Consequences
by naughtynyx
Summary: Sequel to "Truth" Veronica and Logan find out that a simple game of truth or dare has unexpected complications. Please R&R! TEMPORARILY ON HIATUS! SORRY!
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Consequences.**

**Summary : Sequel to Truth. Veronica and Logan find out that a simple game of truth or dare has unexpected repercussions.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

**Please R&R**

**Chapter 1**

"Hey." Veronica heard the voice of her best friend Lilly Kane and turned her head from her locker to see her smiling.

"Hey," Veronica returned with a hint of surprised. "You seem awfully chipper for someone who was just about to get a major chewing out the last time I saw her." She observed. "So how did it go with your parents anyway? I would have called and asked sooner, but I'm grounded until prom."

Lilly scoffed. "That's not too bad. Proms only a few months away."

"My senior prom." Veronica clarified.

"Oh."

"So what about you?"

"I got a month." Lilly said with an insouciant shrug. Being grounded has never stopped Lilly Kane from doing whatever she wanted. "But Golden boy Duncan only got two weeks."

"That's not fair." Veronica remarked. She was happy for her boyfriend to not have to be under house arrest for an entire month, but she was also angry for her friend. It was completely wrong the way her parents–namely her mother, Celeste–treated the sibling with such disparity. They were always harder on Lilly. Granted Lilly did tend to get into a bit more trouble than Duncan, but in this case they had done exactly the same thing and Lilly still received the harsher punishment.

Not for the first time Veronica felt grateful to have the parents she had.

"Tell me something I don't know." Lilly said. "Anyway, forget about all that, I have something I want to tell you."

Veronica shut her locker and turned fully to her friend giving her her undivided attention. "What's up?"

"I'm gonna break up with Logan." She divulged.

Veronica's shoulders slumped at that piece of completely underwhelming news. Lilly dump Logan at least once a month.

"So what else is new?" She asked dryly. "What did he do this time?"

"Not a thing." Lilly stated. "Logan didn't do anything wrong. I've just out grown him his all. It's for real this time" she earnestly informed.

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Yeah right." she said in an 'I'll believe it when I see it' kind of tone.

"I'm serious Veronica." Lilly adamantly maintained. "Logan and I are finished, or will be once I tell him about it, I'm done with him. I've moved on."

"Moved on?" Veronica prodded. "What, like, with someone else?" She lowered her voice at the last part.

Lilly leaned forward, a small coy smile on her full lips, and mirrored Veronica's hushed tone. "Maybe."

"Lilly!" Veronica gasped shocked. "You're cheating on Logan?"

Of course, Lilly and Veronica had always joked about Lilly's love of the male of the species, and her vast experience with them. But, Veronica never actually thought that any of this "_experience"_ was gained while she and Logan were in an on phase of their on again off again romance.

"Gawd, Veronica." Lilly groaned. "You make it sound so dire. It's not like we're married. We're in high school!"

"Yeah, but..." Veronica shook her head trying to find the right argument. "But, Logan loves you."

"And I love him." Lilly affirmed. "And I always will, in a way. But, I'm going to be going off to Vassar next year and he'll still be here. You and I have always agreed how foolish it is to try and carry a high school relationship into to college, especially long distance."

"Yeah, I know, but that's almost a year away." She argued.

Lilly shrugged. "Why wait. It's better this way, to get it over with now, so Logan can deal with it and move on already. This is the best way, you'll see."

Veronica shook her head. "I don't know."

Lilly sighed. "You'll understand someday." She said.

Veronica's brow pinched. "What is that supposed mean?"

"Nothing, never mind." Lilly hastened, then focused on something over Veronica's shoulder. "Hey donut!" She greeted.

"Hey." Veronica heard Duncan's voice reply, just before she felt his arm slip around her waist. "Hey, baby." He said to her and kissed her cheek.

She managed a smile for him and said, "Hey."

"Aw, isn't this puppy love precious?" A voice said and the three of them turned to see Logan coming there way. And the fourth musketeer was in place. He grabbed Lilly by the hips and swooped down to kiss her fully on the lips, with tongue and all. Lilly returned the action with fervor.

Veronica wondered how Lilly could still kiss him like that knowing she was getting ready to break his heart. Something about all this made Veronica not too pleased with her friend and she felt a wave of nausea wash over her.

"You okay Ronnie?" Logan asked, apparently her discomfort was showing.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She assured. She placed a hand on her stomach. "Something's just not sitting right with me is all." She said, looking at Lilly.

* * *

><p>"Hey!" Veronica jumped back startled as Logan swooped into her path as she made her way to the bus depot.<p>

"Hey, yourself." She returned, taking a breath and trying to slow her heart rate back to normal. Once she got that under control she was able to focus on her unease about encountering Logan. She felt awkward being around him now that Lilly had let her in on her plans. Obviously, gauging by the smile on Logan's face she hadn't broken up with, yet.

'_Maybe she changed her mind_.' Veronica thought hopefully, but there was something about the conviction in her voice that made her doubt that.

"What's up?" She asked him, hitching up her bag and trying to avoid his eyes. She started walking again, thinking that would make it easier if they were side by side.

"Um, I was wondering if we could talk." Logan ventured.

"Talk?" Veronica asked. Sure she and Logan were friends, but he never actively sought her out to talk. Not unless it was about Lilly.

'_Crap, he must suspect something and he's going to ask me about it.'_ Veronica felt very angry at Lilly just then. She hated being in the middle of others relationship drama. She was scared that if Logan did ask her she might let the secret slip.

"Yeah, talk." Logan reiterated, "You know, chat, converse, gab, form words with our mouths. It works like this; I say something, you say something, and we continue this, back and forth, and before you know it," he flourished his hands in a 'Voila!' gesture, "we're having a discussion."

Veronica couldn't help but smirk. "Oh right. That talking." She paused and the momentary amusement faded. She cleared her throat, "So what exactly did you have in mind for us to talk about?"

Logan shrugged. "Oh, I don't know." he, "Just, you know, stuff."

"Stuff huh?" Veronica replied wryly. "Well, as scintillating as that sounds, I can't right now. I have uh, things to do." She lied. "Sorry. I got to get going or I'll miss my bus."

"Well, hey, why don't I give you a ride." Logan suggested.

'_Crap. Okay Veronica I know you've got an excuse somewhere in that brain of yours to avoid this one.'_

"Ooh, um not a good idea," she ventured. "I'm still kind of on the hook for our all nighter, Saturday. Me getting a ride from you might be seen as a violation of my parole and then my already hefty sentence will be extended."

Logan nodded in understanding, a small smirk on his lips. "Well, I wouldn't want to get you into anymore trouble with our fine local law enforcement. I know what a ball buster that sheriff is."

Veronica smiled over the grimace from the knotting in her stomach. She didn't like lying to Logan or blowing him off, but she didn't see she had much choice. Again, she didn't manage to hide her discomfort from Logan.

"You all right?" he asked a tinge of concern in his brown eyes that only made Veronica feel all the worse.

"Yeah, fine." She said. "I, um, gotta go. I'll see you later, Logan." She said, then bolted.

"Yeah, later." He called after her already twenty feet away before he could get the words out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

'_What the hell?'_ Veronica wondered, drunk from sleep. A sound had disturbed her slumber and she was trying to figure out what it had been.

Tap, tap, tap.

There it was again. Veronica squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, trying to force some clarity into it and focus on the noise.

Tap, tap, tap.

'_The window'_ It finally dawned on her. It had been awhile since anyone had come to her window in the middle of the night; Lilly use to when they were in junior high and later Duncan had adopted the habit. She assumed it must be one of the house-arrested Kane's out on a jailbreak.

She looked at the digital clock on her nightstand: 1:45. She groaned, as much as she loved her best friend and boyfriend, she was also quite fond of a full nights sleep.

Tap, tap, tap. The knock persisted and Veronica– giving in– rolled out of bed and slogged to the window.

She fumbled with the latch, still not completely awake, and flew the window open. She gasped when she saw the face of her visitor.

"Logan?"

"Hey, Ronnie." He returned with a slight smirk.

Veronica rubbed a hand over her eyes; she thought maybe sleep was blurring her vision and she was seeing wrong. Nope, it was Logan all right.

"W-what're you doing here?" She asked, shaking her head. Logan paying her late-night visit still did not compute.

Logan shrugged. "Well, I still need to talk to you." He said. "And I know how busy you get doing important 'things'" – Veronica cringed, he had obviously seen through her flimsy excuse for an excuse earlier– "so, I wanted to catch you at a time when I figured you wouldn't be doing anything."

"Well, I was doing something." Veronica informed. "Sleeping. It's something we humans sometimes do at night."

Logan chuckled. "So can we talk?"

Veronica bit her lip. She supposed there was no way of avoiding this. _'Damn it, Lilly'_ she cursed her friend for putting her in this position. Next time she has news Veronica is just going to tell her to keep it to herself.

Resigned, Veronica nodded. "Okay. Meet me around front."

Logan nodded, then disappeared from the window. Veronica closed it and took a breath. '_Well, here goes nothing.'_

She grabbed a sweater and crept out to the front door.

"Hey." Logan said when she pulled the door shut behind her.

"Hey." She returned, wrapping her sweater tightly around her body against the chill of the night. "So, what's so important that it can't wait until a more godly hour?" She asked lightly, even though she was nervous about what she already assumed the subject was; Lilly.

Unfortunately, she was wrong.

"I think we need to talk about the unresolved issue between us." Logan ventured.

Veronica was stumped by that one. What unresolved issues did _she_ have with Logan? "Okay, maybe it's because my brain is still half asleep, but I'm gonna need a bit more to go on here."

Logan sighed. "What happened– or rather was didn't happen– in the limo Saturday." He nudged. "You know the kiss that wasn't."

Veronica's jaw dropped. That had not been what she had expected at all. She assumed that 'the kiss that wasn't' as Logan had put it, was going to be one of those things that got swept under the rug never to be spoken about again.

"I-" she stopped to clear her throat, then continued to stammer, "I, um, uh, w-what about it?"

"Come on, Ronnie," Logan pressed, "don't try to tell me you haven't been feeling weird about it."

Veronica bit her lip. She had felt weird. And the feeling weird only made her feel even weirder; because if a near-kiss with Logan could throw her that much, she had wondered what a real kiss from him would do to her. But she had tried her hardest to not think about it at all.

"Okay." She admitted, "Yeah, so maybe I felt a little strange." She shrugged. "But, it's not like anything actually happened. It's not a big deal."

"Is that how you really feel?" He asked. The utter earnestness she heard in his voice and saw in his deep brown eyes, stopped Veronica from responding with an automatic; "Of course."

Instead she swallowed, trying to moisten a suddenly dry throat and said; "I'm not sure. H-how do you feel about it?"

Logan sighed, frustrated, turning his back to her and gripping the railing of the porch. "Confused." He said with a light laugh that didn't sound particularly amused.

Veronica let out a breath of laughter. "That sounds about right." She took a step forward and joined Logan at the railing.

Logan sighed. "I can't stop thinking about you know? The 'what if'." He turned so he was facing her fully. "What if there hadn't been any damn static electricity. What if we had been able to kiss for real."

The both of them had (more or less) unconsciously moved closer to each other.

"I know what you mean." Veronica murmured. Her heart rate had picked up and breath was coming quicker as well. "I've thought about it too."

Logan faced her again with a sigh. "All I've been thinking since the moment our lips almost touched and we shocked each other is what if there hadn't been any damn static electricity." He said. "I've been wondering what it would have been like if I had actually gotten to kiss you."

Veronica felt her mouth go a bit dry and her heart rate pick up at his words.

Logan was looking down had Veronica, his eyes had glossed over slightly. He licked his lips. Veronica could help but watch his tongue as he did so. "Well," he ventured, his voice low, "the way I see it is there is only one way to get it out of our heads, so we can get passed it and move on, go back to normal.".

"Yeah?" Veronica asked, trying to fight against the dizziness she was feeling.. "What's that?"

Logan swooped down and caught Veronica's mouth; his strong arms going around her waist and pulling her to him. Her arms curled around his shoulders in kind.

Veronica had limited kissing experience– especially compared to Logan– other than Duncan she had only kissed three guys; Billy Palmer in third grade behind the gym, Kevin Gilroy in a game of spin the bottle in when she was twelve, and her first boyfriend– the relationship lasted only three weeks– Kyle Banks in eighth grade. The first time she kissed Duncan, all other kisses had been forgotten, and she thought that his were the most skilled, wonderful lips in the world and that his kisses were the way all kisses should be. But the moment Logan's soft, yet firm lips hit her's she thought: Duncan who?

Her mouth melted into his, their lips molding together perfectly. His tongue was like velvet as it slipped passed her lips and massaged hers. Their near-kiss may have caused sparks, but the real thing ignited a wild fire in both of them and they were consumed by it.

What felt like all long time later, but somehow no time at all, their kiss ended and left them even more confused than they had been before. But one thing they new for certain was that their was no going back now.

They looked into each other's stunned eyes and saw the revelation written there. In that moment Veronica could only think of two words to say; "Oh crap."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Just wanting to put in a brief warning for some language in this chap. Okay that's all! Please, enjoy!**

"Oh crap." Veronica breathed, gulping as the full weight of what just happened came crashing down on her. She and Logan had just shared what had to have been one of the top ten– at least– kisses of all time.

If ever two people should not kiss, it would be Veronica Mars and Logan Echolls; both the significant other of each other's best friends.

If either of the Kane's ever found out life as they knew it would be over. But, for them to not find out it would be like pretending it never happened. Ignoring a kiss like that seemed about as likely as a Texas size meteor landing in your backyard without you noticing; impossible.

But what did it mean? What's going to happen now?

These questions and a thousand others were swirling through Veronica's head. She stared intently, imploringly into Logan's eyes desperate to find the answers there. But all that met her in those deep chocolate brown depths was even more confusion and more questions. One being; _Why didn't I ever notice how beautiful Logan's eyes are?_

_Double crap._

"I, uh," Logan stammered.

"Yeah?" Veronica prodded, her breath bated as she hoped whatever it was Logan had to say would shed some light on where they went from here.

He blinked as if suddenly waking. He stood up strait and took a step back. "I should go."

"Oh." Veronica remarked, deflating. "Okay."

Logan looked at her for a moment more. It almost seemed like he was going to say something else. But, he didn't. He turned around and went flying down the stairs.

Veronica watched as he jogged off across the street toward his SUV that was such a bright yellow it practically glowed in the dark. He opened up the driver's side door, but didn't climb into the cab right away. Veronica could see his body turn in the glow from the dome light.

What was he doing?

Did he change his mind?

Was he going to come back so they could talk?

Veronica wished that she could know what was going on in his head. But she was having a hard enough time trying to get a hold of her own thoughts without trying to figure out Logan's too.

She held her breath as she watched him standing there, waiting to see what he would do.

After a moment he turned around and climbed into his car. A second later the engine roared to life and it pulled away from the curb.

Veronica stared after the vehicle well after the night had swallowed it up and it was no longer visible.

Eventually she somehow made her way back to her bedroom, though she didn't really remember making the walk; she was still in somewhat of a fugue state. She spent the rest of the night just staring up at the ceiling trying to figure out what exactly had just happened and what it all meant. And what was going to happen now.

As the shadows on the ceiling began to brighten, signaling that morning had arrived, she still didn't have any answers.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Veronica!"<p>

Instinctively Veronica turned at the sound of her voice being called. Too late she realised who the voice belonged to; Lilly.

She winced. She had been doing her best to avoid Lilly– as well as Duncan– all day. Until now, she had been doing well, managing to dodge them both before being spotted. She imagined she might have been avoiding Logan as well, but he had been conspicuously absent from biology– the class they shared together third period. Which begged the question; Was Logan avoiding Veronica?

Veronica shook herself as she saw her best friend getting closer; she didn't have time to contemplate what Logan was doing or thinking. She had bigger things to deal with. She tried her best to plaster on a smile that she hoped didn't look too fake.

"Hey." She greeted as Lilly approached.

"Ugh, finally." Lilly groaned. "I've been trying to catch up with you all day. Every time I see you, you vanish."

"Oh?" Veronica remarked, feigning surprise. "Huh, weird."

"Anyway," Lilly shook her head, "I need to talk to you. Guess who showed up at my house at 2:30 this morning."

Panic struck in Veronica's chest. Her throat went dry and her grip on her books unconsciously tightened._ So that's where Logan took off to in such a hurry, he went strait to Lilly's. Oh, god! Did he tell her what happened?_

_No, no._ Veronica quickly dismissed that thought. If Lilly knew about the kiss she wouldn't be standing here calmly in front of Veronica right now; she'd be pulling her hair out.

"Uh... hello," Lilly drawled, "Earth to Mars, come in Mars."

Veronica shook herself. "Sorry," she said. She swallowed trying to bring some moisture to her arid throat. "So who did you say came to your house last night?"

"I didn't, yet." Lilly replied, her eyes narrowing. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Veronica lied. "I mean other than the fact that I'm dying of the suspense you're keeping me in." she managed a light laugh. "So, spill already!"

Lilly looked dubious for a moment, but ostensibly shook away her doubts. She sighed, "Logan."

Veronica didn't react to this, knowing that Logan showing up at Lilly's house wasn't out of the ordinary.

_Unlike the way he showed up at mine..._

"And?" Veronica prodded, trying to make her tone sound like one of only mild interest.

Lilly huffed a mirthless chuckle. "Get this," she said, holding up her hands as if gesturing Veronica to ready herself for an explosion, "_he_ broke up with _me_."

Veronica's jaw practically hit the floor. "He did?" she tried to ignore the way her heart began to soar at hearing this.

Lilly nodded. "Can you believe that?" she exclaimed, incredulous.

Veronica shook off her own feelings and focused on Lilly's reaction. "Wait a minute," her brow furrowed, "are you upset?"

"Of course I'm upset!" Lilly blurted.

"But, I thought you were planning to break up with him anyway," she licked her lips, her pulse quickening, "you didn't change your mind, did you?"

"No, not all."

Veronica masked her relief. "Okay," she drawled, "so why is it you're upset? I mean doesn't him breaking up with you kind of save you the trouble?"

Lilly huffed. "And who said I wanted to be saved the trouble?" she rejoined. "I mean, yeah okay, dumping someone is always awkward, but it's a lot better than getting dumped, you know."

Veronica made a noncommital noise. She wasn't sure she shared her friend's view or not.

"Also, why did he just break up with me all of a sudden?"

Veronica shrugged. "Well," she ventured, "maybe it was because he sensed you drifting away from him. Maybe he could tell you were about to break up with him and he wanted to beat you to the punch. You know, like you said, it's better to be the dumper than the dumpee."

Lilly shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. "No, I don't think so." she said. "I just got this feeling from him. I think there's someone else."

Veronica's heart nearly stopped. "Why would you think that?"

She shrugged. "I don't know like I said, it's just a feeling."

"Well, okay," Veronica ventured, "say that Logan is seeing someone else. Do you really have any right to get upset. I mean didn't you pretty much confess to me yesterday that you've been cheating on him?"

"So?" Lilly blurted, hotly. "It's completely different!"

Veronica's brow knitted. "How is it different?"

"Because, no-one goes behind Lilly Kane's and gets away with it."

Veronica was at once disgusted by her friend's double standard and terrified by the cut-throat ruthlessness she saw behind her big blue eyes. She had seen the 'wrath of Kane' directed at other people before and was always thankful that she was on Lilly's good side.

Veronica gulped and cleared her throat. "Well, you don't know for sure that there is someone else or not yet, right?"

"No," Lilly admitted her mein softening, "and that's why I need your help."

"My help?" Veronica practically squeaked seeing where this was going. "With what?"

Lilly's eyes flashed with ire again. "With finding the bitch who's been fucking my boyfriend."

_Crap, crap, crap._

**_TBC..._**

**_IF you would please let me know what you thought about this chapter I would be eternally greatful!_**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_Isn't it amazing how much someone's life can change in just a few seconds?_ Veronica mused as she took her books out of her locker.

A few seconds that's how long the kiss she shared with Logan had lasted and now, because of those few seconds, her life was irrevocably different from how it had been the day before.

Yesterday she would have thought nothing could touch the way she felt about Duncan. Nor would she have believed she would have done anything to jeopardize her friendship with Lilly.

She sighed. _Lilly_. Lilly who wants her help in finding the 'bitch who has been fucking her boyfriend.'

God, how would she react when she found out that the girl who had swayed Logan's affections was in fact Veronica? True they hadn't engaged in anything quite as lewd as Lilly suggested, but Veronica knew that that one kiss would hurt Lilly more than if Logan had been sleeping with countless of other nameless sluts.

She always said; Chicks before Dicks. And even though she said it to mock Dick Casablancas who often loved to recite the 'guy code' counterpart– Bros before Hos– she knew how seriously Lilly believed in friendship coming before romance.

_Damn it._ Veronica slammed her locker with such force she got a few looks from the other people in the hallway. She gave the gawkers a tight, sheepish smile and slunk off.

_None of this would be happening if Lilly hadn't given me that stupid dare._ _What kind of person dares their best friend to kiss their boyfriend? What the hell was she thinking?_

_Gee, Veronica,_ said the other side of her brain, _pretty ballsy of you to make out with your best friends boyfriend and then put the blame on her for it, don't you think?_

She sighed, knowing that the latter, more rational, part of her mind was right; Lilly wasn't to blame for this. She may have made that dare, but what happened last night was definitely not part of any game.

_No, it sure wasn't._ That was made all the more clear by the fact that Logan had gone and broken up with Lilly right afterward.

Veronica still couldn't believe that. Sure, it had been and incredible and intense kiss but, was it worth throwing a long-term relationship away over?

Veronica became even more troubled when she couldn't think of an answer for that question.

Was she supposed to break up with Duncan now? Is that what Logan was expecting?

Her stomach twisted at the thought. She still loved Duncan, one kiss wasn't going to change that no matter how amazing. But when she thought about kissing Duncan in comparison to kissing Logan... She had to wonder if Logan's lips had ruined all other lips for her.

Her eyes closed automatically as she remembered the feel of his lips on hers, the taste of them, the way his tongue had slipped into her mouth and skillfully danced with her own.

_NO!_ _Stop that!_ She berated herself. _Thinking about the kiss is not going to help you think any clearer. _

In face quite the opposite was true.

She shook her head, eyes clenched, to clear the image away.

_Okay,_ she thought on trying a rational objective approach, _so it was the best kiss you've ever had, so what? What is one great kiss in comparison to what you have with Duncan? I mean it's Duncan– whom you love. _Duncan,_ the kindest, sweetest, most caring guy you know. Duncan the guy who– _

_Is headed your way right this very second._

_Oh crap._

She froze in her tracks, panicked. She was so not ready to face him yet. Not until she had a better hold on her feelings. The encounter with Lilly had been painful enough.

_Oh god, oh god._ She had to get out of there before he noticed her.

_Too late._ She gulped as her eyes met Duncan's and she saw the little flicker of recognition in them.

Her stomach sank with the now hopeless inevitability of the situation. She mustered up a small smile and lifted her hand to wave. But before she was even able to raise her hand fully, Duncan made an abrupt turn and zoomed down a different corridor.

Veronica was stunned. She just stood there her frozen, hand at half-mast, blinking in confusion.

_What the...?_

She knew Duncan had seen her. So why would he pretend he didn't?

_Why would Duncan try to get away from me?_

She could only think of one possibility

Her eyes narrowed in anger.

Maybe, Lilly wasn't the only Kane Logan paid a visit to last night.

* * *

><p>" 'First say to yourself what would be; and then do what you have to do.' - Epictetus."<p>

Veronica was ready to scream in frustration as she angrily punched her phone off on Logan's damn daily inspirational quote.

She usually thought they were funny, but right now they were annoying as hell.

_Damn it, Logan_.

She needed to talk to him, needed to find out if her horrible suspicion was true; that he told Duncan about them.

_Why would he do that?_ That question had been wracking her brain since she saw Duncan. She couldn't imagine what Logan would be thinking telling him, he obviously didn't tell Lilly.

Maybe it went back to that damn guy code; maybe he confessed to Duncan out of some loyalty to friendship. If that were the case Veronica didn't know if she could blame him.

_But if he did tell Duncan he could have at least had the decency to give me a heads up. But, wait this is Logan I'm talking about here; decency? Ha!_

And on top of everything the jackass was being cowardly by not showing up today and avoiding her calls.

Right now she couldn't believe that even for a moment she had entertained the idea of wanting Logan over Duncan. And now that she thought about it maybe that kiss wasn't as tremendous as she had thought. She was just so tired last night, her brain was fuzzy.

_Sleep deprivation; that's what it was._

She punched the redial button on her cell. It rang three times then Logan's voice mail picked up again.

"Ugh!"

Veronica hung up.

She couldn't wait for school to end to see Logan. But the terms of her grounding clearly stated she was to come strait home after school was finished.

But as to where she was to be during school hours, that wasn't specified.

Keith Mars hadn't thought to make precautions for that little loop-hole.

Veronica bit her lip. She hadn't skipped school since seventh grade; she and Lilly had taken the bus to go see 'My pretty pony' at a record signing at a mall in L.A.

Her parents had been clueless about the excursion. But Veronica had felt sick with guilt and when Keith asked her over dinner that night 'if anything special happened today?', she had confessed the whole thing.

She didn't think her resolves were quite as weak as they were then, and skipping study hall and gym to go a few miles to Logan's house, wasn't quite as severe as ditching the whole day and going to L.A.

And these were desperate times.

Stomach flip-flopping with her decision, Veronica turned on her heel and changed her course toward the parking lot.

She nearly tripped over her feet when she saw Logan yucking it up with Dick Casablancas by the exit.

_So he did show up after all._ Veronica thought, blood simmering. _Just not for third_ _period._ Which to Veronica was the damning proof that it was her he was avoiding.

Clenching her jaw and balling her fist, Veronica began stomping toward him, but stopped suddenly realising she couldn't have it out with him in front of Dick, or anyone else. She had to do this in private.

She bit her lip, scanning the hall. Her eyes fell on the convenience of the girl's bathroom and she quickly ducked inside. Thankfully, it was empty. She cracked the door open just enough to keep an eye on Logan and Dick. The bell rang, but neither of the boys made a move to get to class.

She sighed impatiently.

Finally, the pair shared some secret guy handshake – at which Veronica rolled her eyes– then Dick took off out of the door and Logan started down the hall.

Veronica shrank back so she wouldn't be noticed and when Logan came within her reached, she whipped the door open and yanked him inside.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey, what the hell?" Logan yelped in protest as he was pulled into the girl's bathroom. He whirled around and his ire died when he saw who it was who had napped him. "Oh." He murmured calmly, "Hey."

_Hey?_ Veronica thought. _That's all he has to say?_

"Wow," Logan remarked after a pause, he looked around the bathroom, "you know this scenario has all the workings of a letter to Penthouse."

Veronica's pique flared. "Save the quips Logan." she warned. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"You're mad." he observed.

"Wow," Veronica mocked, "your deductive skills are a real gift."

Logan sighed. "Look, I'm sorry for the way I just took off last night," he began, "I was just confused."

"This about you leaving." Veronica interjected.

"It's not?"

"No. Did you tell Duncan about what happened?" she demanded.

"Why would I do that?"

"That's not an answer."

"Fine. Then, no. I didn't tell Duncan. I haven't seen or talked to him since yesterday. After I went and kissed his girlfriend, I haven't exactly been eager to face my B.F.F."

Veronica bit her lip, thinking. She believed him. But now she was more confused. Because if Logan didn't tell him then why had he run from her?

"Do you think it's possible he could have found out from someone else?" She asked with a note of accusation. "Like Dick for instance, did you tell him?"

"I haven't told anyone." Logan insisted. "The only way Duncan could know is if he's been having you watched by Neptune's most esteemed private dick, Vinnie Van Lowe."

Veronica had to scoff at that idea.

"What makes you think he knows, anyway?" Logan wondered.

Veronica took a deep breath. "Because he dodged me in the hall earlier. He's avoiding me. Like someone else I know." she pointedly added.

Logan's brow furrowed. "What are you talking about? I haven't been avoiding you."

"Oh, no?" Veronica challenged. "Then why did you ditch Bio and why haven't you been answering any of my calls?"

Logan smirked; the cockiness annoying Veronica at the same time making her stomach flutter. "I didn't answer your calls because I had no idea that you called; I lost my phone a couple days ago." he explained. "As for not showing up for class that's because I overslept; I had kind of a long night last night."

"So I heard." said Veronica, still not ready to give up her annoyance. "So just how many girl's windows did you end up going to anyway?"

Logan snickered. "I see you've talked to Lilly."

"I talked to Lilly. You really broke up with her?"

Logan nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I did."

Veronica found herself caught in Logan's liquid brown eyes for a moment and felt like she was falling. She blinked and looked at the ground.

"Yeah, well," she went on, "she's convinced you're seeing someone else." Her lips twisted up wryly. "She's enlisted me to help find out who the other woman is."

"That's just like Lilly." he remarked with an acerbic grunt. "To be mad in thinking I'm seeing someone else when all this time she's been cheating on me."

"Yeah, that's right I know about it." he added seeing the pained look on Veronica's face. "I've known about it for awhile. I also know who it is."

"You do?" Veronica asked, surprised. "Who?"

Logan brow crinkled. "You mean you don't know?"

Veronica shook her head. "I didn't even know she was seeing anyone until yesterday. But she didn't tell me who it was."

Logan nodded and blew out a breath. "It's Eli Navarro." he muttered.

Veronica boggled. "You mean Weevil? As in PCH'r Weevil?"

"One in the same." He dryly confirmed.

Veronica shook her head, trying to shake the information she just received, hoping it would fall in a way she could comprehend.

It didn't.

_Lilly and Weevil...?_

Well, Lilly's favourite pass time is pissing off her parents. And what would piss off Celeste more than her daughter getting involved with the likes of Weevil?

Veronica shook her head, still not able to believe.

"No." She refuted. "There must be some kind of mistake. What is it that makes you think Lilly is seeing Weevil?"

"I don't think it, Veronica," Logan replied, "I know it. I've seen proof."

"What proof?"

Logan sighed, bringing his arms up and lacing his fingers behind his head. "You know that pink pen Lilly has– the one you hide little notes inside."

"The spy pen." Veronica murmured, remembering Lilly had showed it to her.

"Yeah, the spy pen. Well, one day when I was in Lilly's room – waiting on her for some reason I don't even remember – I was messing around with and a note fell out – from Weevil."

Veronica let this sink in for a minute, trying to process it. She licked her lips. "How do you know for sure that the note was real?" she ventured. "I mean you know how Lilly is – she leaves fake notes from guys around all the time, to freak out Celeste when she goes through her things."

Logan nodded. "I know and I might have thought that's what it was had it not been for the way she reacted when I asked her about it; she totally freaked on me. She said I was invading her privacy and I had no right. She said that I didn't own her and if I couldn't trust her I could leave. So I did."

"Wait," Veronica held up a hand, "is that why you guys split up that time awhile back?" she asked remembering the event.

Logan nodded.

"That was months ago! This has been going on for months?" She couldn't believe it. Then an unpleasant thought niggled its way into her head and her gut twisted. "So is that what last night was about? Was kissing me just a way for you to get back at Lilly for Weevil?"

"What, no!" Logan asserted. "Absolutely not. Last night had nothing to do with Lilly– other than the fact that it was her stupid dare that put the idea of wanting to kiss you in my head in the first place."

Veronica had to chuckle since she had had the same thought not long before.

"Well, actually," he continued, "that's not really true, I've thought about kissing you before."

Veronica was surprised. "You have?" She couldn't help the tiny smile playing at the corner of her mouth.

"Yeah. I have." He said. "And I've thought of nothing else, but doing it again since it happened."

Veronica looked up at Logan and once again found herself lost in those beautiful eyes; they looked like pools of melted chocolate.

Her breath caught in her throat.

She felt like she was being pulled into their orbit.

"Logan..." She murmured her voice just a breath of sound. Logan licked his lips and Veronica's eyes riveted to them, remembering the way they had felt against hers.

Suddenly she wrenched herself out of the lure of Logan and his lips. She looked down at the ground. "Look, Logan," she forced a firmness into her voice she didn't quite feel, "about what happened– I know you broke up with Lilly and all, but– "

"No worries, Ronnie," Logan interjected in his patented glib way, "I don't expect you to do the same with Duncan and we'll live happily ever after. I didn't break up with Lilly for you."

Veronica blinked and looked up. "You didn't?"

"No. I did it for me." He sighed. "I always thought that Lilly was the one, you know, that I was never gonna find another girl I could care about the way I cared for her. That's why I put up with the cheating, because I wanted Lilly no matter what. But, lately I've been thinking I was wrong; that Lilly and are just aren't meant to be. I mean I still love her, I always will I guess. But we just don't work. And yeah, kissing you was like the final nail in the coffin for me. Because I've never felt with anyone – including Lilly – the way I felt when I kissed you. But, that doesn't mean that I expect you to feel the same way– "

"I do." Veronica said the words without thinking, before she could stop herself.

Logan's head snapped up, he strode toward her. "You do?"

Veronica made the mistake of looking him in the eyes again, she nodded. She couldn't speak, her throat had gone dry as if by the proximity of Logan, his body heat, had evaporated the moisture from it.

"So what does that mean?" He asked, she could feel the heat of his breath on her face.

She swallowed several times before being able to speak. "I don't know." She rasped, helplessly.

Logan's hand reached up and stroked her cheek, he took a strand of her long blond hair and rubbed it between his fingers. "Veronica..."

He was cut off when she tilted her head up, closing the gap he had already lessened, and put her lips to his.

Logan put his hand behind her head, cradling it, while the other arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer.

Veronica's arms went around Logan in return, her hands fisting in the back of his shirt.

And they were on fire again. Lost in the blaze, burning down the remainders of the world they had always known.

And then a pair of trusting blue eyes and sweet smile forced their way into Veronica's mind and she shoved herself away from Logan.

"No. I c-can't." she stammered. "I can't do this to Duncan. I'm sorry." She whirled around and ran out of the bathroom.

Logan made no attempt to go after her.

_TBC..._

**Thanks for reading! As always I would really appreciate you letting me know what you thought!**


	6. Chapter 6

Veronica was about to chew a hole in her lip as she waited outside of Duncan's English class. She was twirling a strand of hair around her finger anxiously. She had warring feeling in her gut; one part of her was telling her to flee, to keep avoiding Duncan until her mind was clearer. The other part saying that seeing and talking to Duncan was the only thing that was going to help her figure out what she was feeling.

Maybe after she was with Duncan for awhile she would remember that feeling she had only when she was around him, and it would make this confusion about Logan go away.

She loved Duncan. Yesterday she never would have dreamed of wanting to be with another guy – least of all Logan.

But now...

The way Veronica felt after kissing Logan the first time, she might have been able to excuse; perhaps it was the novelty of kissing someone new for the first time after only kissing Duncan for the past two years. That feeling could have been a fluke.

It could have been, but, the second kiss hadn't been any less powerful. If anything, it had been even more intense the second time.

_Imagine what a third would be like._.. She thought.

_No! Don't imagine that!_ She scolded herself, unfortunately a little too late, she was already starting to feel warm with the idea.

She was relieved when the bell finally rang and her attention was pulled to her impending confrontation with her boyfriend.

Veronica steeled herself as the door swung open. Students immediately started pouring from the classroom and Veronica found herself being pushed along with the current of bodies.

She fought to plow her way through as she saw Duncan coming out laughing with Casey Gant by his side.

"Duncan!" She called out as he turned away from her direction.

He stopped, looking behind him.

Veronica waved her arms at him. "Duncan!"

And then his eyes fell on her – she _knew_ they did– but he turned and started walking again. Casey nodded his head in Veronica's direction saying something to Duncan, who responded by shaking his head and gesturing Casey to come on.

Veronica stood there stunned watching Duncan walk away.

_Why is he doing this?_ She wondered. It just didn't make since.

"Hey!" A voice said in Veronica's ear, surprising her. She gasped and whirled around.

"God, Veronica," Lilly laughed. "Jumpy much?"

"Um...hey." She meekly replied.

Lilly's brow furrowed. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing." Veronica replied automatically.

Lilly's brows rose, dubiously. "Nothing?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "Come on, Veronica."

Veronica licked her lips and thought about it; Lilly and Duncan were close, so she might know about whatever it is that was going on with him.

"Well," she ventured. "Is just," she sighed. "What's wrong with Duncan?"

Lilly snorted. "Do you want that list in alphabetical order or degree of severity?"

"I'm serious, Lilly." Veronica groaned. "Is something going on with him? Has he said anything about... or us, anything about our relationship?"

Lilly's eyes narrowed in consideration. "No," she drawled, shaking her head. "He hasn't said a word about anything." She tilted her head to the side. "Why? What's going on?"

Veronica wrung her hands. "He's been avoiding me today." She told Lilly about both incidents.

Lilly screwed her face up. "Are you positive that he saw you...I mean he is a dope. Maybe he didn't."

Veronica shook her head, doubtful. "I'm pretty sure he saw me."

Lilly sighed. "Have you tried calling him?"

"No."

"Call him."

Veronica dug out her cell and dialed Duncan. She frowned after a moment and hung up. "Voice mail." She informed Lilly. "Will you try calling him, see if answers?"

"Veronica, I'm sure he– "

"Please?" She insisted.

Lilly shrugged and got her phone. "Uh...hey, Donut," Lilly stammered, she hadn't expected him to answer her either. Veronica slumped. "Um, what's up? Are you busy?" A pause. "You're just getting lunch. Oh, well that's why I was calling, I wanted to see if you wanted to cut out with me and Ronnie for lunch." Another pause as Duncan answered her. "Well... are you sure? I mean, you'll be missing out on a golden opportunity to spend some quality time with your girlfriend. You do have a couple weeks left on your sentence... Oh, well, okay then, your loss."

"See?" Veronica remarked when Lilly hung up. "I told you he was avoiding me. Now, the question is, why?"

"Look, I don't know what Donut's problem is, but I'll give him the third degree later at home, 'kay? I'll find out why he's being suck a dick head. I'm sure it's not about you. You guys belong together."

Veronica's gut twisted with fresh guilt. "What about that stuff you said yesterday, you know about fleeting high school relationships are."

"Well..." Lilly drawled. "I was really talking about me and Logan, you and Duncan are solid. If any two people can make it passed the hallowed halls of high school unscathed it's you guys."

"I wouldn't count on that." Veronica muttered.

Lilly sighed. "Don't worry so much, Veronica. I'll take to Duncan and straiten him out. Everything will be fine, trust me."

Veronica managed a wan smile. "Yeah, I'm sure it will."

* * *

><p>"Hey, man!" Duncan greeted as he joined Logan at the lunch table where he was sitting on his own. "What's up? I haven't seen you around all day."<p>

Logan smiled weakly. "Yeah," he cleared his throat. "I, um, overslept this morning. I had a late night."

Duncan cringed. "If your 'late night' has anything to do with my sister, I don't want any details."

"Actually. . ." Logan let out an awkward huff of laughter. "It does."

Duncan held up his hands. "Seriously dude, I don't want to hear about your booty call to Lilly."

"It wasn't a booty call." Logan smirked, then turned serious. "We uh, we broke up last night."

Duncan's expression sobered. "Really man?"

"Yeah. Really."

"Man," Duncan muttered, then let out a bitter chuckle. "Must be something in the water."

Logan's brow furrowed. "What're talking about?"

"Me and Veronica," Duncan elaborated. "We're history."

Logan wondered if Veronica had broken up with Duncan after their encounter in the bathroom earlier, a surge of hope rising through him. But is was dispelled quickly as he remembered the look in Veronica's eyes when she said she couldn't do this to Duncan; it wasn't the look of someone who was about to smash the guys heart into a million pieces. But, as far as Veronica knew they were still together then, so unless Duncan had dumped her within the last half hour...

"Um," Logan ventured, trying to sound casual. "I, uh, saw Ronnie earlier and she didn't mention anything about you guys breaking up."

Duncan shifted in his seat uncomfortably and looked down at his burger.

Logan laughed lightly. "Does she even know about it?"

Duncan shrugged evasively. "She'll get the message eventually."

"What, you mean you're just going to ignore her until she realises it's over?" "You're not even going to give her an explanation?" Logan's voice rose with incredulity

"Dude, that's kind of a dick move, don't you think?"

"Did someone say my name?" As if on cue, Dick Casablancas joined them at the table.

Duncan chuckled and tossed a french fry at him. "Not you Dick, ya dick."

"Well, that's good. 'Cause I don't take lightly to anyone stealing my moves."

Duncan shook his head and turned back to Logan. "Since when are you so concerned about Veronica's feelings, anyway?"

"What do you mean?" Logan countered. "She's my friend too."

"Well... come on," Duncan drawled

"What?" Logan demanded.

"Well, it's not like you guys have ever really been friends," Duncan hedged. "I mean the only reason you two ever hung out was because she and I were together and you were with Lilly. But now that that's all over..."

"She's still my friend, Dude." Logan adamantly asserted. "I give a crap about her getting dicked around like this."

"Dudes," Dick interjected. "Would you quit taking my name in vein?"

"I don't even know what to say to you man," Logan continued, shaking his head in disgust. He hated Duncan right now for how he was handling this. He was making Veronica crazy wondering what she did wrong, why Duncan was ignoring her. "What'd she do anyway?"

"She didn't do anything." Duncan mumbled.

"Then why the hell are you treating her like this? She deserves better."

"Whoa, bro," Dick cut in. "Like chill. You can't be ragging on our man here for dumpin' Ronnie. It like violates the guy code, you know: Bro's before– "

"Shut up, Dick!" Logan cut off. He stood up and grabbed his backpack. "I gotta go. See ya around man."

"Logan!" Duncan shouted after him.

"Dude," Dick remarked. "What crawled up his hole?"

Duncan might have phrased it a bit differently, but he was wondering the same thing.

* * *

><p>Veronica was in her bedroom, trying to focus on her homework, but she couldn't keep her mind on Othello, it kept drifting off to the problems of her own love life. She tapped her pen on her notebook her head spinning trying to come up with something that would explain Duncan's behaviour. Of course there was the obvious; her kissing Logan. But that was off the table; there was no way he could know about it.<p>

She dropped her pen and grabbed her phone and dialed Duncan. It rang four times then his voice mail picked up. Veronica's eyes clenched shut in frustration, her jaw tensing. She took a breath and waited for the beep.

"Hey, Duncan, it's me, Veronica... again," she said. "You do remember me, don't you? Your girlfriend?" she chuckled awkwardly. "Anyway, I would really appreciate it if you gave me a call back. I really need to talk to you. . ." She paused biting her lip "Well, okay. . . bye."

She sighed clicking off the call and tossed it back on the desk. She put her face in her hands. A moment later she was startled by the sound of the doorbell.

_Duncan?_ She thought.

She got up and raced to the door. She opened and sucked in a breath when she saw who was standing there.

She sighed. "What are you doing here?" she asked crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, hello to you too." Logan snickered.

"Logan. . ." Veronica drawled wearily. "I can't deal with you – with this. . . thing between us – right now. I'm sorry for the way I just ran out on you. But I've got a lot I need to figure out, about Duncan. I need time to – "

Logan held up a hand cutting her off. "I didn't come here to talk about us," he said.

Veronica's brow furrowed. "You didn't?"

Logan shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at his feet. "No. I didn't."

"Okay. . . if you're not here about what happened with us, then why are you here?"

"I'm here because of Duncan,"

Veronica's heart leapt. "Duncan? What about Duncan?"

Logan cleared his throat. He wasn't sure if it was the right thing for him to do, telling Veronica about Duncan's proclamation that they were over. It was probably a further violation of Dick's guy code. But, Logan didn't really give a crap about any damn codes right now, he was disappointed in his BFF for handling whatever the hell was going on with him this way; just ditching Veronica without a word. It was wrong. She deserved better than that. She deserved to know.

"Logan!" Veronica prompted impatiently.

He pulled himself out of his thought and looked up to Veronica's blue expectant eyes. "Right," he cleared his throat again, "so I saw Duncan at lunch," at Veronica's wide panic filled eyes, he smirked and added, "Don't worry, I didn't tell him anything." Veronica relaxed somewhat. "No, it was Duncan who was making with the grand revelations."

"Meaning?" Veronica pressed.

Logan blew out a breath and plowed forward. "Well, according to him, you guys are. . . over."

Veronica felt like she had just been punched in the stomach. Her was conveying a similar sort of shock. "He. . . what?" she uttered, completely confused. She shook her head. "I-I don't understand," she raised her head sharply at Logan. "We're over? What'd he say exactly?"

"Not much. Just that, that things between the two of you were finished."

"What do you mean, he didn't give you a reason?"

Logan shook his head.

Veronica's head reeled. "Well, was he planning on letting me know about this?" Her voice was dripping with rage.

Logan shrugged. "I asked him the same thing," Veronica raised her eyebrows. "He said that you would figure it out. . . eventually."

Veronica let out disgusted huff of laughter. "In other words he was just going to give me the brush off until I took the hint."

Logan looked at her, brown eyes full of sympathy, and a hint of shame on behalf of the male race. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

Veronica felt the tickle of tears in the back of her throat. She swallowed them back. "I just can't believe this," she uttered after a moment. "After everything, we've been together for almost two years and friends for a lot longer than that, that he would just end things like this. . ." A lump formed in her throat from tenacious tears. She didn't think she was going to be able to keep them at bay for much longer and she hated crying in front of people. She steeled herself as best she could and looked up at Logan and asked him levelly, "Can you go, please?"

Logan's chest twisted seeing the sheen in her eyes. "Oh god, Veronica I'm sorry," he gushed. "Maybe I shouldn't of told you. I just thought you deserved to know, you know? I probably should have just minded my own business."

"No, no." Veronica sniffed. "It's good that you told me. I'm glad you did," _now I don't have to keep calling Duncan like an idiot._ She added to herself. _God, why did he do this?_ "I just need some time alone right now, to process this."

Logan gave her a small smile and nodded. "Of course. I get it." He hesitated. "I'm still your friend, Ronnie," he offered. "If you need to talk about this, you can call me. I promise I won't bug you about. . . the other stuff. I just be there, to listen. If you need me."

Veronica smiled, her nostrils were starting to quiver with the struggle to keep the dam of tears from bursting. "I appreciate that, Logan. Thanks."

Logan wanted to gather up the small girl in his arms and let her cry in them, but he knew how guarded Veronica was and figured the best thing he could do was, as she requested, go. "Okay," he said, the want to stay warred in him. But he looked at Veronica, her hand clasped white-knuckle tight on the door frame, as she fought to keep control, he knew she wouldn't allow herself the release she needed until he was gone. "Take care." he finally bade, turning away.

Veronica wordlessly stepped back and shut the door. She leaned back against it and sank down. She pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged them, bowing her head, she cried.

_TBC_...

**Well, you know what you need to do: Go review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry if updates are a bit staggered, but I'm currently working on several other fics. Plus I'm dealing with other pesky life stuff**, **too. But, I promise to bring updates as soon as I am able, and I WILL finish this story. Anyway, I appreciate your patience and all the reviews! I hope you continue to enjoy this fic!**

Veronica couldn't understand it; what would cause Duncan to do this. It wasn't even the fact that he wanted to end things between them that bothered her. If he was unhappy with their relationship, then that was one thing. But it was how he went about ending things that rankled; it just wasn't like Duncan – at least not the Duncan she knew – to act this way.

Veronica had always been proud thinking she had inherited the Mars instinct from her father; she believed she had a good ability to read people. And she had always thought of Duncan as an upstanding kind of guy. And it wasn't just her, Duncan had gotten the Keith Mars seal of approval as well.

She didn't think it was possible that they could both be wrong about his character.

Another thing Veronica inherited from her father was a thirst for answers; Duncan had to have a good reason for doing what he did, and there was no way Veronica could rest until she figured out what it was.

A light tapping sounded on her bedroom door. Veronica sat up on her bed and turned down the volume on her CD player; _Everybody hurts_ by REM was playing

"Come in," she called.

The door cracked open and the smiling face of her father peeked in. "Hey honey," he said gently.

Veronica felt a smile pulling at her lips. "Hey, dad. What's up?"

Keith opened the door further and stepped inside. "I was just wondering if you were going to come out of your room at some point. Dinner's almost ready."

Veronica's stomach was in knots over everything going on in her personal life; she didn't have much of an appetite.

"If it's okay, I think I'll skip dinner tonight. I'm just not that hungry."

Keith frowned in worry. He came over and sat on the edge of his daughter's bed. "Are you feeling all right?" He put a hand to her forehead to test her temperature.

"Fine," Veronica assured. "Just not hungry."

Keith's frown deepened. "You're not sulking about being grounded, are you?" he asked, but from his tone she could tell, he didn't really think that was the problem.

"No. I'm not sulking about that."

Her father rubbed her shoulder. "What's going on, sweetie?" he prodded. "You and Lilly have a fight?"

Veronica shook her head, "No." _But I'm sure we will if she finds out about Logan._

"You and Duncan?"

Again Veronica shook her head. "No, I didn't have a fight with Duncan." _If I had then his breaking up with me might actually make some since._ "I didn't have a fight with anyone."

"Then what is it, honey?" Keith pressed. "I know something's wrong. You wouldn't be listening to this music if it wasn't."

Veronica smirked. Sometimes she thought her father knew her too well. She considered talking to him about what was going on; she had always had a very open and close relationship with her father. But, she was still a teenage girl, and being a teenage girl, discussing boy problems with her dad was not appealing. And she didn't think he would be happy to hear about her kissing Logan. Not that he hated the boy or anything. But Veronica got the feeling Keith thought he was an over-privileged punk; not the sort of boy suitable to date her daughter.

Not like Golden boy Duncan Kane.

Veronica bit her lip. "I just really don't feel like talking about it right now. Is that okay?"

Keith smiled softly. "Of course, sweetie." He leaned over and kissed her on the top of the head. "But if you change your mind, I'm always here for you."

Veronica felt fresh tears prickling in her eyes. "I know," she murmured. "Thanks, dad."

She waited until the door closed behind him before turning the music back up.

_Everybody hurts, sometimes..._

/\/\/\/\/\

Veronica woke up late the next morning; she had fell asleep with the stereo still on and the sound had drowned out that of the alarm clock. Now after wrangling a tardy slip from the office aid —it would make life so much easier if she had her own absent slip pad— she was rushing to catch the last few minutes of first period.

_Ugh! I hope there wasn't a pop-quiz,_ she thought knowing how fond Mr. Ruck was of them.— and how much he detested truancy.

She sighed as she sped down the hall; out of the corner of her eye, she saw another student coming down the side corridor. Instinctively she turned her head toward the movement and froze. It was Duncan. He had a bathroom pass dangling from his hand. His head was down so he didn't notice Veronica.

_Not that he would acknowledge my presence even if he did_.

Veronica's eyes narrowed, anger flaring, bringing a rosy hue to her cheeks. She balled her fist. She realized that Duncan was almost to the door of the girls bathroom— the one she pushed Logan into the day before— it looked like that bathroom was becoming a major convenience for her.

She cast a glance down the hall toward Mr. Ruck's classroom and frowned.

_Oh, well_, she thought, _there's only a few minutes left anyway_. And knowing Mr. Ruck, he would likely spend the rest of class giving a lecture on the importance of punctuality.

Having made her decision, Veronica started down the hall towards Duncan at a fast clip.

"Hey!" Duncan cried as she gave him a hard shove. "What the hell?" Just like what happened with Logan, Duncan's anger too faltered when he saw it was Veronica. He cast his head down, ashamed.

_Good,_ Veronica thought,_ he should feel ashamed_.

"What do you want?" he muttered to his feet, as if it wasn't obvious.

Veronica scoffed, "Oh, I don't know, Duncan, maybe an explanation?" She folded her arms over her chest. "Might be nice."

Duncan didn't respond, just kept looking at his feet.

Veronica shook her head; she couldn't believe this, couldn't believe that the coward standing before her was the same boy she had adored most of her life. "So, I hear that were broken up," she ventured. "Was this perhaps news you were ever planning to share with me?"

Again, Duncan said nothing.

"What the hell, Duncan?" Veronica erupted, her frustration overwhelming her. "How can you do this to me, after everything we've been through? You just give me the brush off. I have to hear that are relationship is over from Logan."

Finally Duncan spoke, "He should've minded his own business."

Veronica scoffed. How dare he try and make like Logan is the bad guy here? "Logan was just being a friend. He thought I had a right to know, and he was right. And he wouldn't have had to tell me anything if _you_ had." Veronica rubbed her lips together, trying to find some semblance of composure; she was also afflicted with the Mars passion, and worried she might haul off and hit Duncan or something.

"My god, Duncan," she began again, her voice softer. "I just can't believe you would treat me this way. If you wanted to break up with me, you could have at least had the decency to do it to my face. Or my god! You could've even done it in a note, or even an email. But this, this radio silence crap," she shook her head, "it's low. I thought you actually cared about me, that we meant something to each other, but if you can treat me like this, without any explanation, well, obviously what we had meant a lot more to me than it did to you."

Duncan's head snapped up, he looked at Veronica in the eyes for the first time; Veronica was shocked by the rage she saw in Duncan's usually placid blue eyes. She had to fight not to flinch as Duncan lunged forward, coming so close, she could feel the heat of his breath as he said, "You want an explanation, huh? You wanna know why I broke up with you? Ask your mother!" With that Duncan shoved passed her and stormed out of the bathroom, leaving Veronica shaken and stunned.

_What the hell?_ _My mother? What could she have to do with any of this?_

It was true, that Leanne Mars had never exactly been thrilled about her daughters relationship with Duncan. Though Veronica could never understand why; any other mom would be in heaven if their daughter had landed such a catch as Duncan Kane— he was an honors student, an all star athlete, by all accounts a nice guy — and not to mention heir to a billion dollar fortune. But for whatever reason, Veronica's mom didn't seem to think he was right for her daughter. But still, she had never been uncivil to Duncan, or done anything to show she didn't like him; it was mostly just a vibe that Veronica got when she had told her mother she had started dating him.

She couldn't think of why Duncan would blame her mother for their break-up.

Maybe he was just trying to use her as a scapegoat; blame someone else for his jackassedness, instead of owning up to it.

The bell shrilled, Veronica realized for the second time. She snapped herself out of her musings and looked down at the crumpled tardy slip in her hands— she'd forgotten about it, when she had her fist clenched. She was going to need to get another one now for second period. She slumped, the first one had been tough enough to acquire.

She fell back against the wall.

_Well, crap._

/\/\/\/\

Veronica pushed the "food" on her tray around with her fork; she flicked some faded green peas into the mountain of white paste that was supposedly mashed potatoes, and poked at the mystery meat with a grimace. Even if she had had an appetite, she wouldn't eat this... whatever it was.

Sighing, she pushed the tray away from her, and took up her little carton of milk. Shaking it, she looked up and saw Logan come out of the cafeteria with his own tray. She perked up at the sight of him. He saw her and their eyes caught. Logan gave her a small smile, and Veronica found herself returning the gesture. For the first time all day, she actually felt something close to happy.

Logan's eyebrows rose, as if in question, and Veronica gave him a nod in answer. His smile broadened a bit and he started her way.

"Hola, chica!" Suddenly Logan was out of her eye-line and Lilly was standing in front of her, putting down her books and a diet soda on the table. She sat down across from Veronica.

"Uh... hey," Veronica tentatively replied. She looked over Lilly's shoulder and saw Logan; he gave her a small understanding smile, and nodded, before turning and carrying is tray over to the table were Dick and Beaver occupied.

Veronica slumped, dejected. She found she would have rather spent lunch with Logan instead of her best friend. That realization made a new knot of guilt twist in her gut.

"So..." Lilly drawled, " a little birdie told me that you weren't in first period this morning." Her full lips curved up slyly. "Has goody-two-shoes Veronica Mars crossed over to the dark side?"

Veronica smirked wryly. "I am not a goody-two-shoes. And I overslept."

Lilly grinned, "Yeah, I figured it was something like that." There was a note of disappointment in her voice.

"So, anyway," Veronica segued, "did you happen to talk to your brother last night?"

Lilly pressed her lips together in a pained smile. "Yeah. I did. I'm so sorry, Veronica. I don't know what his problem is; he's a douche. I'm ashamed to share DNA with him."

Veronica gave a weak smile. She shook her head. "I just don't understand it. Did he give you any sort of reason why he wanted to breakup with me all of a sudden?"

Lilly shrugged, her big blue eyes full of sympathy, and shook her head. "Sorry. I tried to wrangle it out of him, but he just got all huffy and weird. Kind of like he does when he's having one of hie– " Lilly shut up, pressing her lips together.

Veronica's eyes narrowed. "One of his what?"

Lilly shook her head. "Nothing," she dismissed. "He just gets moody sometimes, you know?"

No, actually. Veronica didn't know. Duncan had always been the picture of stability.

"Anyway, I know how you feel," Lilly offered. "It's just like with me and Logan; he didn't give me a good reason why he dumped me either."

_No. It's not like you and Logan,_ Veronica silently argued._ Because Logan actually told you it was over to your face. And he did have a good reason: you cheated on him!_

"But, we're both better off," Lilly went on. "I'm mean come on, we're two hot blonds in our prime! It's practically criminal for us to limit ourselves to just one guy. And, trust me, Veronica, you can do way better than that loser brother of mine."

Veronica's gaze drifted automatically over to the table where Logan was sitting; he was shaking his head, laughing grudgingly at something (probably vulgar) that Dick was saying.

"Yeah," she murmured absently. "I can do be better."

_TBC..._

**Thanks for reading! I would appreciate knowing what you thought of this chapter!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry it took so long for an update. I meant to have this up weeks ago, but I had a bit of technical difficulties; I lost my first draft of this chapter and had to rewrite it entirely from scratch.**

**Anyway, I hope it was worth the wait. As always let me know what you think.**

**Happy reading! :)**

"Free at last! Free at last! Thank the lord! She is free at last!"

Veronica felt her lips curve up into a smile as she heard Lilly's exultation ringing through the hallway. She knew it was for her benefit. Today was Veronica's first day off grounding. Usually, this is something Veronica would be excited about as well, but right now, she wasn't. Being grounded she had had an excuse for blowing off Lilly's invitations to do things and hang out, now she didn't. Veronica's smile fell thinking about wanting to get out of spending time with her best friend. But she couldn't help it. It was uncomfortable enough hanging out with her the limited time at school. She couldn't bare the idea of being alone in with Lilly in her room. Veronica was sure she would end up blurting out that she had kissed Logan. Twice.

Veronica chewed on her lip as she thought of Logan; she hadn't spoken to him, since he came to tell her about Duncan's breaking up with her. She hadn't had the chance to, Lilly was always around her when she had free time at school. She had looked for him a few times in the parking lot after school, but he was always either gone before she got there or didn't show up in time before she had to board the bus. She was couldn't wait for her birthday, so she could get the car she knew her parents were planning to get her. Then she would no longer be slave to the bus schedule.

Veronica shook away her thoughts as she saw Lilly coming closer to her. She turned to face Lilly, plastering a smile back on her face.

"So, miss Mars," Lilly said in her reporter voice. "How does it feel to be a free woman after all this time?"

"Uh, kinda weird," Veronica replied. "I'm not sure I'm going to be able to adjust to all the changes in the world since my incarceration."

Lilly giggled. "Well, I've always thought the best way to get back into the swing of things is to just dive right in. And it just so happens that I have the absolute perfect venue for you to make your splash back into proper society."

Veronica crossed her arms over her chest, brow knitting dubiously. "Oh, you do, do you?" she asked. "And just what might that be?"

Lilly beamed a thousand watt smile. "A party," she informed. "This Friday night. And your attendance, Veronica Mars, is mandatory."

Veronica grimaced. The idea of spending an entire night partying with Lilly did not seem appealing. What if someone spiked her drink or something and in her inebriated state she spilled the secret about her and Logan. "Oh, I don't know Lilly," she began. "I don't think I'm really ready to party just yet. You know after everything with Duncan."

"No," Lilly said firmly with a shake of her head. "That is unacceptable. You can't use that dufus brother of mine breaking up with you as an excuse. If anything it's all the more reason you _need_ to go to the party. You have to show that loser and everyone else that you're not pining away for him. You have to come out in full force and full hotness and show that dimwit what he's missing!" Lilly flourished her hands in the air for emphasis.

"So," Veronica drawled. "Duncan will be at this party?"

Lilly shrugged. "Most likely. Everyone will be there."

"Not everyone," Veronica corrected. "I'm sorry Lilly, but I just don't think I'm up for it. I'm sure you can find someone else to go with you."

"No, I can't," Lilly argued.

Veronica's brow rose. "You can't?" she retorted. She found that hard to believe. The day that Lilly Kane couldn't find a willing escort of either sex to accompany her to a party, or any event for that matter, was the day Hell was hit with a blizzard. "What do you mean, you can't?"

Lilly sighed. "What I mean is, that I can't find someone else to go to the party with me because I won't actually be going. I have other plans," she explained.

"Other plans," Veronica slowly repeated. "So, let me get this strait, you want me to go to a party that you don't even plan on attending? Why?"

"Because," Lilly began, "aside from you being in desperate need to get out and have a good time, it's the perfect opportunity for you to start the mission."

Veronica's brow furrowed. "The mission?"

"Yeah, you know," Lilly prompted, "operation skank."

Veronica's scowl deepened. "Huh?"

Lilly groaned theatrically. "Remember, you promised you would help me find out who Logan was fooling around with?"

"Oh right," Veronica remarked, recalling the conversation. Though in her version of it she didn't remember actually agreeing to spy on Logan to find out who skank (i.e. Veronica herself) was Logan dumped Lilly over.

Veronica cleared her throat and shook her head. "Well, how do you know that Logan will be at the party, anyway?" she asked.

Lilly snorted. "Are you kidding me? It's Logan. Since when have you ever known Logan to miss a party?"

"Right," Veronica mumbled in acknowledgment. If Logan missed a party Hell would also be hit with an ice storm.

"And, if even by the slim chance he ever would miss a party," Lilly continued, "it wouldn't be this one, being at it's at his place and all."

"Logan's throwing the party," Veronica recapped, a light flutter going through her at the idea of seeing him.

"Yes. Hello, that's what I just said," Lilly replied. "What's with the parrot routine you've got going today? So are you going to go and help yourself as well as your best friend out, or not?"

Veronica bit her lower lip. Her head was telling her that going to this party was probably a bad idea. Being with Logan in such a setting seemed like asking for trouble, especially since Veronica still hadn't figured out what it was that she wanted. But, despite the logical side of her leaning against the idea, she said, "Okay. I'll go."

Lilly beamed a smile. "That's great! I'll come by your house after school so I can give you your dress."

Veronica frowned. "My dress?"

* * *

><p>"Well someone sure is dressed up for their first Friday off of grounding," Leanne Mars remarked as Veronica entered the kitchen wearing the dress Lilly had picked out for her. It was a strapless mini red satin dress with a slit up the thigh. The exact kind of dress Lilly insisted was perfect for Veronica. Veronica herself wasn't so sure how her it was, and almost didn't wear it, but then she figured 'what the hell?'<p>

"Are you excited about the party?" Veronica's mother asked.

"Yeah, real excited," she dryly replied. She crossed the room to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water, she cracked open the lid.

"Well, I'm sure Duncan will be thrilled once he gets a load of that dress," Leanne said. "When's he picking you up?"

Veronica paused, water bottle halfway lifted to her mouth. She hadn't told her parents about he break up yet. "Um," she stammered, "actually he's not."

"You're meeting him there?"

"Er, no. I'm not going to the party with Duncan," Veronica informed. "In fact I'm not going anywhere with Duncan anymore, ever. We broke up." Veronica tipped the water bottle to her lips and carried it over to the kitchen table where she sat down.

"What?" Leanne's surprise was evident in her expression and tone, leading Veronica to be even more sure that her mother didn't have anything to do with Duncan's dumping her as he had insisted. That, or Leanne Mars missed her calling as an actress.

Leanne, put down the knife she had been using chopping vegetables for that night's dinner. She wiped off her hands on a clothe and crossed to the table, sitting down across from her daughter. "When did this happen?" she wanted to know.

Veronica took in a breath as she fiddled with the cap of her water bottle, twisting it on and off. "About two weeks ago," she answered casually.

"Two weeks?" her mother spluttered. "My, you certainly are one for secrets, aren't you?" She paused and reached out to touch Veronica's hand. "Are you all right? Do you wanna talk about it, sweetie? Wanna tell me what happened?"

Veronica chuckled lightly. "Sure," she said, "I'd love to tell you what happened. But, I can't. Since I have no idea. Duncan gave me some lame excuse that doesn't even make any since." She shrugged. "But, whatever. I'm over it." She sipped the water again.

Leanne gave her daughter a small unconvinced smile. "Are you sure about that?" she asked. "I mean I know how much you cared about the boy. You two seemed pretty serious."

Veronica sighed. "I thought we were too," she replied. "But apparently we were both wrong and Duncan and I weren't that serious after all. Or at least Duncan wasn't." She shook her head. "I'm not even sure who Duncan really is anymore," she murmured as she began to peel the label of her bottle.

"Well, maybe this is all for the best, huh?" Leanne commented. "The two of you are so young. Too young to get so serious. It'll be good for you to experience what else it out there."

"Yeah," Veronica mused, thinking of Logan; it was something she did a lot of lately.

"Is there something else on your mind, honey?" Leanne asked taking in her daughter's contemplative silence.

Veronica blinked, pulling her mind to focus on her mother. "Huh? Oh. No, nothing," she insisted.

"Really?" Leanne countered, her eyes going down to Veronica's hand. Veronica looked down and saw the shredded water bottle label. She hadn't even been conscious she was tearing it.

"Okay, so maybe I'm a little preoccupied," she confessed.

"About Duncan?" her mother prompted.

"No," Veronica replied. "Not about Duncan, actually, someone else."

"A boy?"

Veronica nodded. "Yeah. A boy. The wrong boy. The absolute last boy I should be thinking about." She sighed. "Mom, have you ever liked someone you knew you shouldn't?" she needed to know.

Leanne looked down, pausing before giving an answer. "I think that's something most people are guilty of." She pushed herself up from the table and crossed to the stove, checking the see if the water was boiling. "I mean it's only natural, I suppose, to have an appeal for the forbidden right? Goes back to the beginning." She chuckled, but it was a slightly anxious titter. Leanne made a display of getting out a wooden spoon and stirring the water. She seemed slightly more composed after a moment and came back to sit across from Veronica.

"So," she ventured, "who is this mysterious someone you like but shouldn't?"

Veronica bit her lip. She really wanted to talk to someone about what happened with Logan. She needed to. She felt like if she didn't tell someone soon she would explode. Normally with an occurrence like this, she would go to Lilly – for obvious reasons, that couldn't happen. It was for those same reasons she couldn't go to her other friends – because they were all Lilly's friends too. Veronica couldn't put any of them in the middle of this. And as close as she might be to her dad, her love life still wasn't a topic she was comfortable discussing with him. So, aside from Logan himself, her mother was the only one Veronica could unburden herself to.

So, after taking a breath, she told her, "Logan.." She whispered the name.

"Logan?" Leanne repeated sounding taken aback. "Logan Echolls? Lilly's Logan?"

"Well it's not like she holds the patent on him or something," Veronica grumbled. "But, yeah, that would be the Logan."

"Oh," Leanne remarked. "Well, I can see how something like that would be bothering you." A beat passed. "Do you know if he likes you back?" Leanne asked.

Veronica nodded slowly. "I'm pretty sure he does, yeah," she said. "He kissed me – or, we kissed," she corrected herself. It was no fair putting all the blame on Logan. After all, there were two sets of lips involved.

"Oh," Leanne said again. "And are he and Lilly still..."

"They broke up," Veronica hastened. "Right after the first time Logan and I kissed," she added.

"The first time," Leanne harped. "So this has happened more than once?"

Veronica nodded.

"Does this have anything to do with why you and Duncan–"

"No," Veronica interrupted. "Duncan doesn't even know about it. No one does, other than me and Logan – and now you. And it's not really why Logan and Lilly broke up either – she's been seeing someone else – it's all just kind of a coincidence."

"Or serendipity," Leanne suggested giving Veronica a smile. "Look honey," she reached out and took Veronica's hand, "I know this may seem wrong now – Lilly being your best friend and Duncan being Logan's – but, if the two of you really have feelings for each other, then you deserve to explore those feelings. You may regret it in the long run if you don't," she sounded like she spoke from experience. "If you and Lilly's friendship is really strong then it will survive this. But, you can't let anyone stand in the way if you truly want to be with someone."

Veronica chuckled lightly, trying to ease the awkwardness she felt over her mother's adamance. "Well, I'm not even sure really whether or not I really want to be with Logan," she said. "We haven't really talked about it yet."

"Well, you should," her mother insisted. "Is he going to be at this party tonight?"

"He should be," Veronica replied. "It's at his house after all."

A knock sounded on the door.

"That's Lilly," Veronica announced getting up from the table. "She's giving me a ride to the party."

"All right," Leanne said. "Have fun, sweetie. And remember what I said, talk to Logan."

Veronica nodded, smiling tightly. Something in her mothers demeanor unsettling her. As she wasn't unsettled enough with the prospect of what the night might had in store for her.

TBC...


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry for the wait! I got this done as soon as possible I promise. Also, I apologise for shortness of this chap. **

**Reminder: I do not own any rights to Veronica Mars or the characters therein.** **Just havin' some fun with 'em.**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

><p>"Wow!" Lilly commented, her draw dropping as Veronica opened the door. "I knew that dress was perfect for you." She smiled mischievously. "That brother of mine is definitely going to be eating his heart out – along with every other male, and a few females, at the party."<p>

Veronica chuckled. "I'm not so sure," she said, looking down at herself self consciously. "Are you sure that you gave me the whole dress?" she asked, a wry smirk curving her lips.

Lilly rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she grabbed Veronica and pulled her out of the doorway. Lilly looped her arm through Veronica's and steered her toward her car. "You look totally hot," she went on. "I'm actually kind of surprised you wore the dress. I was afraid you would chicken out."

"I did," Veronica said as she reached for the passenger door handle. "Several times, but," she shrugged. "I figured, what the hell?'"

Lilly giggled. "That's the spirit," she replied approvingly.

"So," Veronica ventured as they cruised down the highway, "what are these pressing plans of yours for tonight anyway?"

"Oh, don't worry," Lilly said, "all will be revealed in due time."

Veronica turned her head to look at Lilly. She could see, as they passed a streetlight, that little smile Lilly had on her face. Veronica knew the smile well. It was Lilly's 'I've got a secret smile.' Veronica remembered what Logan told her about the note from Weevil hidden in Lilly's spy pen. Could he be Lilly's mystery date tonight?

Veronica's brow furrowed as she thought about it. She still didn't know why Lilly never told her about Weevil. Lilly had never been shy about revealing details of her sex life before. Veronica flushed, thankful to be blanketed by the dark of the night so Lilly couldn't see, most of the details Lilly had shared with her had involved Logan's abilities in bed. Veronica had never before given the things Lilly said about them much thought, but now, since her own physical encounter with Logan, they had been very much on her mind.

Veronica hit the button to lower her window down and stuck her burning face into the cool breeze. She just wished she had brought her water bottle with her.

"God, Veronica," Lilly laughed, mistaking Veronica's actions. "There's no need to be so nervous. It's just a party full of the same losers we see everyday at school. The only difference being, now they'll be a little drunker than usual."

Veronica giggled, pulling her head back into the car. She was grateful for Lilly's misconception. "I know, I'm a total wimp, right?" she said in a self-deprecating way.

"Yes, you are," Lilly agreed. "But, an extremely hot wimp." She through a smile Veronica's way as she flicked the signal and turned off onto Logan's street.

"Well," Lilly announced as she stopped the car at the mouth of the packed driveway of the Echolls' Mansion, "here we are."

"Yep," Veronica murmured. "We're here all right." Veronica didn't hurry to get out of the car. She looked up at the mansion, her stomach doing flip-flops in the anticipation of seeing Logan. She gripped the door handle trying to summon up her courage to get out of the car. She jumped when the blast of a car horn sounded from behind them. Apparently they were holding up the line. Lilly rolled down her window and stuck her head out and screamed an obscenity at the honker.

Veronica laughed, the moment serving to ease her inner tension. She pulled the door handle and pushed the door open. "I guess I better get out of the car before a brawl ensues."

" 'Kay," Lilly replied. "I'll be back before midnight to pick you up."

"Good," said Veronica, "I'd hate for the whole class to see me turn into a pumpkin."

Lilly laughed. "See ya."

"Bye." Veronica swung her legs out of the car and stood up, slamming the door behind her.

"Oh, hey!" Lilly called. Veronica spun around and leaned down to the open window. "Promise me you'll at least try to have some fun."

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Fun, right," she mumbled. She touched her knot filled stomach. No fun didn't appear to likely be on the horizon. She straitened and turned again toward the mansion.

"Oh, and Veronica," Lilly called again.

Veronica sighed and leaned to the window again. "Yyeess?" she drawled.

"Smile!" Lilly flashed a huge toothy grin in example. Veronica felt her own lips stretch back in response. "Thata girl," Lilly approved. She put the car in gear. "Adios!" she cried as she peeled away from the house.

Veronica shook her head at the headlights. She watched Lilly turned the street, before pivoting on her heels. She looked down the driveway to the entrance of the mansion. She could hear the music blasting as a pair of revelers opened the door.

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "Here we go," she whispered to herself, girding herself. Then started up the walk.

"Hey."

Logan looked up from the punch bowl to the voice. He was met with a pair of uncertain blue eyes. She swallowed the mouthful of vodka laced fruity juice down and gave Duncan a small nod. "Hey," he replied once his mouth was empty.

"How's it goin'?"

"Fine."

Duncan nodded jamming his hands in the pockets of his pants. "Good."

A beat passed.

"So," Duncan ventured, unsure. "Are we cool, man? About that whole... Veronica thing?"

Logan thought it over for a moment. Were they cool? Well, he still thought it was crap the way Duncan treated Veronica. But on the other hand, if Duncan hadn't broken up with her, then that wouldn't have opened the door for Logan – not that he thought his chances of actually getting somewhere with Veronica were that great, but there was still an opening. And he had Duncan to thank for that. So..., "Yeah, man," he said finally, "we're cool."

Duncan sighed, relieved and smiled. "Good."

Logan smiled back. "Punch?" he offered holding up a cup.

"Um, yeah," Duncan replied. "Actually, could I get two?"

Logan's brows rose. "Two, huh?" he remarked in a knowing tone.

"Yeah," Duncan replied. "I'm getting one for Meg."

"Hmm," Logan remarked

"It's not like you think," Duncan said quickly. "We didn't come here together or anything."

Logan shrugged a smirk at the corner of his lips, "I didn't say anything."

Duncan chuckled, but his cheer died when he saw a figure in the corner of his eye enter the room.

Logan nearly choked on his spiked fruit punch when he saw Veronica enter the party in a sexy as hell red dress. As he stared at her it felt like tunnel vision; everyone else in the room, all the noise was blocked out. He only saw her.

"I didn't think I'd see her here," Duncan mumbled irritably, snapping Logan out of his stupor.

"Why shouldn't be," he rejoined, slightly affronted. "I told you, she's my friend too. She's welcome here. If you have a problem with that..."

"No," Duncan quickly replied. "No problem."

A beat of tense silence ticked by between them.

Duncan cleared his throat. "Well, I should get this drink to Meg," he segued. "See ya, man."

"Later," Logan replied. As soon as his friend was out of the way, Logan's eyes drifted automatically back to Veronica; she was like a beacon in red satin. After a moment her eyes caught his and she gave him an awkward smile. She clearly didn't feel comfortable at the party.

Logan gave her a friendly smile in return and started forward to greet her.

At the sight of Logan's smile, Veronica felt the knots in the pit of her stomach loosen somewhat. She felt worried when she walked in and saw him chatting with Duncan, laughing. She had almost turned around and bolted. But there was a group of people surging in right behind her, blocking her way. When she looked back, she saw that both Logan and Duncan had spotted her and couldn't run; she was much too proud for that.

But, now catching Logan's soft brown eyes and kind smile, she fell her anxiety drifting away.

Logan began to walk her way, and Veronica took a breath before stepping forward to meet him halfway.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hey, yourself," she returned.

"I didn't expect to see you here tonight," Logan remarked.

"Yeah, I know," she replied, "you don't mind me crashing your party do you?"

Logan chuckled. "Not at all. I'm glad you're here."

Veronica felt her cheeks flush. She pressed her lips together, repressing a smile and looked down. She regained her composure and looked back up to Logan.

"So, what's the occasion for this big shindig, anyway?" she enquired.

"Today's a very special day, didn't you know," he replied. "It ends in 'Y'."

"Ah, I see," Veronica remarked. "Now that's definitely a reason to celebrate."

They both laughed.

Veronica looked to be relaxing in Logan's company. But he could still see by the tension in her shoulders that she wasn't entirely comfortable being here.

"Hey," he ventured, leaning down toward her slightly to better be heard over the music, "you wanna get outta here?"

Veronica looked at him wryly. "What? It's your party."

"Ah, nobody will miss me," he assured. "Besides, I kinda thought maybe we could... talk." His light expression dissolved into a solemn one as he said the last part. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he looked at Veronica with a tentative, sheepish look in his brown eyes that made Veronica's stomach flip and was utterly endearing.

"Yeah," Veronica agreed, nodding. "We should talk."

"Right. So..." Logan prompted gesturing to the back doors.

Veronica nodded again and followed as Logan led the way to the pool house.

_TBC..._

**Again, sorry for the shortness. Thanks for reading! As always, please drop me a review and let me know what you thought.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Right, so, warning for this chapter for some language. **

**And again, sorry for the wait. Also I wrote this in a bit of a rush so sorry for mistakes or if it is a bit sub-par Please R&R.**

Veronica felt weird as Logan ushered her into the pool house' her eyes were inexorably drawn to the big bed in the middle of the room. She felt her face flush as Lilly's voice droned in her head about all sorts of things that happened on that bed.

"So," Logan drawled, "just make yourself comfortable."

_Comfortable? Ha. Not likely._ Veronica smiled tightly at Logan and went over to the bed, perching herself tentatively on one corner edge of the bed. She pressed her knees tightly together, feeling exposed and self-conscious in her skimpy red dress. She couldn't decide what to do with her arms; cross them over her chest or just leave them at her sides. Finally, deciding she didn't really have all that much to hide anyway, she just placed her hands on her knees and tried to cover up the length of thigh the short dress left bare.

Logan stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, his hands stuffed deep in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"So, um," he ventured. "How about a drink?"

"Sure," Veronica replied at tad too eagerly.

Logan smirked. "Okay." Glad to have something to occupy himself with he crossed the room to the liquor cabinet.

Veronica chewed contemplatively on her bottom lip as Logan popped open the air vent where he had the key to the cabinet hidden. Her gut churned as it reminded her of Lilly.

_God, I shouldn't be here! What the hell am I doing?_

"You okay?" Logan's worried voice broke into her thoughts.

She shook herself and looked over to him. A frown crinkled his brow and his deep brown eyes were filled with concern. She maybe shouldn't be here, but god help she didn't want leave.

She smiled. "I'm fine," she assured.

"So, what's your poison?" Logan asked. "We've got everything: Vodka, whiskey, bourbon... you name it."

"Oh whatever," Veronica said. "As long as it's wet and on the rocks." Her throat was dry and she was inexpiably warm given as she was wearing next to nothing.

Logan smirked. "You got it!" He grabbed to classes and filled them with some amber liquid – Veronica didn't pay attention to what kind it was. Then bent and opened the mini-fridge. "Damn," he groaned, "no ice." He straightened and through Veronica a smile. "I'll be right back."

Veronica smiled back, "'Kay." She had thought about saying he didn't need to get ice, but honestly she could use a minute to get herself together. Veronica wasn't usually the nervous sort. She prided herself on the steely resolve she had inherited from her father, but this was all very foreign territory. Her whole world had seemingly been turned on its head the last few days.

As soon as Logan left the room Veronica tried to force herself to relax. Loosening her ramrod straight posture into a more natural one. She put her hands flat behind her on the mattress and leaned back. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

_Pull it together, Mars,_ she told herself. _Your just here to talk._

Right. Talk. Just like Logan had come to her house that night to 'talk' about what happened in the limo. And just like she had pushed him into that bathroom to 'talk' to him about what happened that night. And look how both of those times turned out.

And now there was a bed involved.

And alcohol.

_Crap_.

Of course Veronica knew that Logan wouldn't try to make her do anything she didn't want to do. But that was the problem; she wasn't so sure that she _didn't _want to do those things. She knew she wasn't ready to do anything too serious(have sex), but that didn't stop the desire. She had felt tempted at times with Duncan. But it was nothing to the wanting she felt when she was with Logan; when he kissed her she felt it all over her body; her skin was alive with sensation, her insides burned with need induced by his lips and the way his arms fit around her.

She wasn't so sure she would be able to sustain the same level of control she had with Duncan. And with Duncan she had been on an even playing field; they were both virgins. Logan was decidedly more experienced and was used to someone just as experienced as he was. He might expect things.

She closed her eyes and took deep breaths trying to calm herself.

_Just breath, Veronica_, She told herself. _Logan isn't going to expect anything. He's a good guy. He knows how you feel about waiting._ After all he had teased her and Duncan about it enough, hadn't he?

_Oh god_, Veronica groaned. She clapped her hands over her face and plopped back on the bed. She let out a frustrated groan and flung her arms to her sides. She sighed, shaking her head at herself. She looked up at the ceiling above her. Her eyes squinted at a tiny hole.

_What the...?_

Her memory flashed to a conversation she had with her dad a few years ago – just after he had busted a guy at the mall for putting cameras in the women's changing rooms in the shop he managed. Keith had been worried about his daughter being exploited and lectured her about checking her surroundings and told her what to look for.

Veronica pushed herself up to sitting, then perched on her knees. The closer she got to the hole, the more she was convinced of what it was. She stood up on the bed, her eyes followed the beam in the ceiling to wear it ended at the wall – where entertainment center happened to be.

Her gut tightened as the implications began to spin through her mind. She couldn't believe this. This couldn't be what it looked like. Gulping, Veronica stepped off the bed and crossed to the large wooden entertainment center. She hesitantly slid the door open to reveal the television. Her heart hammered as she stared at the blank screen. She bit her lip and slowly reached out to switch it on.

Her heart lurched as the image of the bed filled the screen. She looked back to make sure it matched the real one – of course, it did.

Still not wanting to believe it was true, she went back to the bed and waved her hand under where the hole was in the ceiling.; a hand whipped around on the TV screen.

_How could he do something like this?_ It was one of the most despicable things Veronica could conceive of, to record someone without there knowledge in the most intimate of situations. Her eyes widened in fresh horror as she recalled how many times she had changed into her bathing suit in this room.

"Oh my god," she muttered, thinking she was going to be sick. What if there were other cameras?

Her hands balled into fist at her sides; she was going to kill him.

She was pulled back into the present by the sound of the door sliding open. She whipped around to see Logan come in holding up a silver ice bucket.

"Got the ice," he said, shaking the bucket for emphasis.

"You son of a bitch!" Veronica raged.

"Okay," Logan drawled. "I'm sorry. It took a little longer than I thought it would. I stopped to talk to Dick for a second. I didn't think it would upset you so much." He flashed a playful smirk.

"Don't," Veronica warned.

"Veronica, what the hell?" he asked. "What did I do? And how can I fix it?"

"You want to fix it?" Veronica shot back. "Okay, well explain this." She pointed at the television. "What the hell is this Logan?"

Logan's brow furrowed in confusion. "It's called a television," he said slowly. "I guess I can understand you may not be familiar with such extravagances what with your dad being on a the city's payroll and all."

"Damn it, Logan, this isn't a joke!"

"Is not?" he replied. "Then what is it? "I don't understand what– " His words stopped abruptly as he took in what was on the screen. "Holy crap!" he muttered. His eyes flew to the bed then back to the screen. "What the hell?"

Veronica crossed her hands over her chest as she considered Logan's reaction dubiously. "You didn't know this was here?" she asked him.

"I had no idea," he said, still looking stunned.

Well either he was telling the truth or the acting chops run in the family, Veronica decided. She liked to think she inherited her dad's talent for being able to tell when someone was lying.

She watched as Logan's confused expression bled into one of rage. "That son of a bitch!" he screamed chucking the ice bucket across the room.

Veronica jumped as the bucket crashed into a lamp. "Logan?" she ventured, nervous from his sudden turn. "What's is it?"

"That bastard!" he wailed, kicking a bar stool.

Veronica licked her lips and put up placating hands. "Okay, calm down," she urged. She had witnessed Logan's temper before when Lilly had been mercilessly flirting with a footballer from San Diego at a party last year; a linebacker. The guy had about twenty pounds on Logan, but he still kicked the shit out of him. It had scared Veronica, but seemed to turn Lilly on.

"It's not bad enough that he screws around, but to bring his whores _here_ – in my mother's house!" He punched the wall.

Understanding dawned on Veronica. The camera was put up by Echolls senior to document his extramarital sexual liaisons.

_Oh god, what a pig, _she thought with disgust. She couldn't believe she had ever thought Aaron Echolls was actually a decent guy – especially for an actor.

"I'm sorry, Logan," she said.

Logan scoffed. "Not as sorry as he's gonna be." he lurched toward the television and grabbed the remote control from atop the entertainment center. "Let's see who we have on here, huh? Find out the identity of Aaron Echolls new leading lady."

"Logan, I don't know if that's a good idea," Veronica reasoned. "Are you sure you want to see– " Her words were cut off by a glare from him. She sighed in defeat and looked away.

Logan clicked play and Veronica closed her eyes, not at all interested in seeing the show.

She heard Logan gulp and mutter, "Holy fuck."

The expletive made her eyes snap open and she looked over to Logan and saw his face pale and horrified. She looked at the screen to see Lilly lying under who Veronica assumed was a naked Logan.

"Oh god," she whispered. "The camera must have been recording by accident when you two were..." Veronica didn't finish the sentence. She didn't have to; it was pretty obvious what they were doing.

Logan shook his head slowly, not taking his eyes off the screen. "No," he whispered, almost to himself. "Lilly and I haven't been in her for months. That's not me"

"Well then who– " Lilly flipped over, mounting the man and revealing his identity. "Oh my god," Veronica said again. Her stomach roiled. This can't be real. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Lilly Kane and Aaron Echolls?

Lilly and _Logan's dad?_

_Oh, god Logan._

She tore her eyes from the screen(with some difficulty; it had been like not being able to look away from a horrendous car crash.) She looked at Logan, his gaze was still trapped by the sight on the screen. She couldn't imagine what must be going through his mind right now. This was the ultimate betrayal – by both Lilly and his father. Veronica shook aside her own shock and horror; she'd deal with it later. Right now she had to be there for Logan.

"Logan?" she ventured. She was worried about the expression on his face; he was just staring blankly, his eyes glassy at the television. "Are you... okay?" As soon as the question left her mouth she couldn't believe she was stupid enough to ask it. Of course he wasn't okay.

He didn't say anything.

Veronica took a step forward towards him. "Logan please, say something."

"I think you should leave," he said eventually, his voice low and fierce, angry. "I need to be alone."

Veronica bit her lip, hesitating. She didn't know if she should leave Logan like this. But, she also didn't want to upset him anymore than he already was.

"Okay," she finally said, deciding to abide by his wishes. She understood. She knew what it was like to need to be alone. "Call me, please, if you need anything," she told him.

"Yeah, okay," he muttered dismissively.

Veronica grabbed her handbag off the bed then walked slowly to the door. She cast one last look at Logan, her heart twisting, and then left.

_TBC..._

_Review please!_


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry about the wait – my Veronica Mars muse hasn't been too chatty lately. But I finally strapped her down and made her give me this chapter. I hope you like it.**

**Please R&R**

**Oh, right, warning for language.**

* * *

><p>After leaving Logan in the pool house., Veronica dug her cell phone out of her bag. She saw that she had I missed call from Lilly. A feeling of disgust bubbled up in her stomach as the image of her best friend having sex with her boyfriend's father played fresh in her mind. She deleted the message without listening to it, then she dialled her dad.<p>

"Hi, honey," Keith Mars answered. "What's up?"

"Hey dad," she replied. "I need a favour – you remember how you always told me that if I ever needed a ride to just call you and you'd come and get me no questions asked?"

"Yes," Keith drawled.

"Well, I need a ride," she informed.

"Is there some kind trouble, honey?" he wanted to know. "Is something wrong?"

Veronica snickered. "What happened to the no question asked part? I knew that was too good to be true."

"Okay, okay," Keith relented. "No questions. Just tell me where you are and I'll be right there."

Veronica sighed, not for the first time feeling thankful for the father she was blessed with having. "Thanks dad. I'm at the Echolls mansion," she told him. "Oh and dad, could you do something else for me – again without questions?"

Keith let out a weary sigh. "What is it?"

Veronica bit her bottom lip and looked back over her shoulder at the pool house. "Well, you're on duty right now, right?"

"Yeah," her dad confirmed sounding curious.

"Any chance you're in the mood to bust up a rowdy party?" She could practically hear her dad rubbing his forehead through the phone line.

"Any chance you want to tell me why you want the police to break up your friend's party?" he countered.

"Um... not at the moment, no," she told him.

"Is there anyone I should be arresting?" Keith asked.

"No," Veronica blurted out quickly. "No arrest. Just get everyone to leave."

Keith sighed. "Okay. I'll be there in ten minutes with sirens on."

Veronica smirked. "Thanks dad," she said and hung up.

She hoped she was doing the right thing. She thought she was. She didn't think that Logan really wanted to have to deal with his guest right now. He did say he wanted to be alone.

She just hoped that's what he really needed and she wasn't making a mistake by leaving. She wanted to be there for him. But at the moment she had no idea how to be. So she was doing what she could by getting everyone out of his house.

And just prayed that when he was finally ready to let someone be there, he would come to her.

oOo

As soon as Veronica woke up the next morning, she grabbed her cell and checked her messages, hoping Logan had called.

There was only one message; it wasn't from Logan.

She gritted her teeth as she pressed the button and put the phone to her ear.

"Hey, loser!" Lily's voice shrilled. "What the hell happened to you? I'm parked outside Logan's right now and the place is deserted. What the fuck? Call me."

Veronica snorted as she deleted the message. Not likely she was going to be returning that call anytime soon.

She hesitated briefly before punching in Logan's number. She knew he said to leave him alone, but she had to know if he was okay.

She waited impatiently as his voice mail pick up and he rattled off an inspirational quote.

"Hey, Logan, it's me... Veronica," she began after the tone. "Will you call me back, please? I'm really worried about you. I just need to know that you're all right. Please, call me. I..." she paused not really knowing what she should say. "I'm just so sorry." Feeling inadequate she hung up.

She tossed her phone across the bed and flopped back, groaning in frustration.

A knock sounded on her bedroom door.

"Come in," she grumbled.

The door opened and her mom's head popped in.

"Hey, sweetie," Leann said.

Veronica pushed herself up and folded her legs under herself.. "Hey, mom."

"I was just wanting to know if you wanted to talk about last night," her mother ventured. "How'd it go with you and Logan – I'm mean I'm guessing it couldn't have been too well judging by the police escort home."

Veronica smiled wanly at her mother's attempted joke.

"Um... something sorta came up," she hedged, not really feeling like sharing the details about Lily and Mr. Echolls with her mom at this point. "We didn't really get a chance to have 'the talk'."

"Oh," Leann replied. "Sorry, honey."

"It's okay," Veronica assured.

Leann opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the shrill of Veronica's cell phone. Veronica practically flew across the bed to get it – she was in such a rush she forgot to check the ID.

"Hello," she practically panted, frantic.

"_Hello_, yourself," Lily's voice replied.

Veronica's stomach sank. "Lily," she said. Her mother made a gesture that she was going to leave her alone and clicked the door closed behind her.

"Yeah, that's me,.your best friend, Lily Kane; the one that's been calling you all night. What's going on? What happened with the party – people said you called the cops, a.k.a, your dad to come break it up."

"Well, I told you I wasn't in the party mood," Veronica replied drily.

Lily snorted. "Apparently not. So?"

"So what?"

"So what about Logan – did you find out who the slut is?"

_Yes, I did_, Veronica thought bitterly. _I'm talking to her right now._

"The only girl I know he talked to is me," she said.

"Oh," said Lily deflated. "Well what are you doing? I'm gonna hit the mall; I'm in need of massive retail therapy – wanna come?

"You know," Veronica drawled. "I've had a killer headache all day – I'm gonna pass."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"Whatever. Later!" she bade before signing off.

"Much," Veronica muttered as she hit the end call button and tossed the phone aside again – this time in disgust.

She gnawed on her lip for a moment while she contemplated calling Logan again. She finally sighed and reached across the mattress again to retrieve the phone.

She hit redial and waited.

He didn't answer.

_Screw it,_ she thought scrambling up from the bed.

She hastily got herself dressed.

"Mom!" she called as she pulled up her jeans. "Can I barrow your car!"

oOo

Veronica's heart sank, discouraged as she pulled up to the Echolls' mansion and noted Logan's bright yellow monstrosity was nowhere in sight – and as it was hard to miss, it obviously wasn't there; which meant, neither was Logan.

She parked her mom's car and tried the door anyway – no answer.

_Crap_.

Worry ate at Veronica's stomach – she was so concerned about Logan she called Dick and asked if he knew where he was. If Veronica was having a willing conversation with Dick Casablancas then it was serious.

Unfortunately the call didn't yield any joy; Dick hadn't seen Logan since the party last night – _the party that your dad busted up_, Dick had griped after which Veronica hung up on him.

She drove around for a while longer and made a few more phone calls – no Logan.

She'd almost even called Duncan, but had sagely decided against it.

It was already getting dark by the time Veronica called it quits and returned home. She would have stayed out all night searching, but her mom needed the car; she was going out for on of her regular girl's night with her friends.

She spent another restless night staring at the ceiling as her mind reeled with unsavoury possibilities. She was shaken from these morose thoughts when she heard a familiar tapping on her bedroom window.

She was out of bed like a shot, relief flooding her and she rushed across the room to open the window. She threw it open without a thought to see Logan standing there.

"Oh my god, where have you been?" she asked him. "I've been so worried about. Are you okay?" She stopped abruptly as Logan shifted and his face became more visible in the moonlight. She gasped seeing the purplish bruise forming on his cheek and the gash over his left eye. "Oh my god, Logan."

Logan's mouth quirked wryly, he lifted his right hand and revealed his split knuckles. "Went to L.A. to have a chat with daddy dearest," he told her.

Veronica's eyes slipped closed. She'd been afraid of something like this. "Oh, god Logan..." She opened her eyes and looked at him – his brown eyes were soft and vulnerable and she found herself unable to hold on to her annoyance at his rash behaviour. And after all, it wasn't like Aaron hadn't had it coming.

She reached out and put her hand to the cheek that wasn't bruised. "Come inside," she told him, stepping back from the window.

"You sure?" he asked sheepishly.

Veronica nodded.

Logan smiled gratefully and clamoured over the windowsill, wincing and holding his side as he did so.

Veronica grimaced in sympathy.

"I'll be right back," she whispered. "I'm going to get something to clean up that cut."

She turned to go, but Logan caught her hand.

"Veronica..."

She turned back and looked up at him. His eyes were swimming with tears. He looked so fragile. Veronica stepped closer and carefully put her arms around him. His own arms came around her, engulfing her much smaller frame. He buried him face in nook between her neck and shoulder. He sobbed silently in her arms, his tears falling onto her skin and dampening her hair.

He held on to her tightly like she was his life-preserver. Veronica didn't mind the pressure his strong arms were applying on her slight figure – she was just glad he was allowing her to be the thing his was holding onto. That he was holding on at all.

"It's okay," she murmured as her own tears sprang into her eyes. "I'm here. I've got you."

After a moment, Logan blew out a breath, stirring Veronica's hair and pulled back.

Veronica cleared her throat and smiled at him. "Come on," she said, tugging his hand over to the bed. "Sit down," she told him. "I'm gonna go get some band-aids and stuff."

Logan gave her a small smile in return nodded, sitting down on the edge of the bed..

After Veronica had cleaned and covered Logan's cut, she bent down and brushed her lips gently to where she applied the band-aid.

Logan wrapped his arms around her waist and held her to him for a moment, stroking her back.

Veronica felt a powerful electric surge go through her and shivered. Her breath quickened.

"You should get some rest," she suggested, keeping her voice low so it would strain.

Logan loosened his hold on her and she pulled back.

Veronica looked down at him, biting her bottom lip.

"Lay down," she told him.

Logan's eyes flashed in surprise. He thought she was going to tell him to go home.

"Just...to sleep," Veronica clarified.

Logan nodded and eased himself down on his side.

Veronica walked down to the end of the bed and sat down at Logan's feet, then began to untie his shoelaces.

"You can't sleep with your shoes on," she said in answer to his unvoiced question.

After she carefully placed his shoes on the floor, she awkwardly scooted up the bed and laid down beside Logan, facing him.

She gently touched her hand to his cheek and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"Get some sleep," she murmured..

Logan put his arms around Veronica and pulled her closer to him. He rested his forehead against hers and sighed. Then, allowed his eyes to slip closed.

Veronica watched him for awhile, waiting until she heard his breathing slow down and even out, before closing her own eyes and allowing sleep to take her as well.

TBC...

**Thanks for reading! I'd really appreciate it if you would please drop me a review and let me know what you thought.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi! First off I just want to give a big thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter. If you've reviewed before you know I usually send a thank you in a PM, but unfortunately I didn't get to everyone–I kept having issues getting signed in. Well, anyway just wanted everyone to know how much all the feedback means to me. This is my most reviewed fic ever. Yay!**

**Also, I want to thank whomever it was that nominated this fic for a VM award for best not completed. I couldn't be more chuffed. Everyone should head over to vmfanficawardsDOTucozDOTcom and support the fandom–even if you don't vote for me. There are a lot of great Veronica Mars fics to choose from.**

**All right, without further ado... **

Veronica had been sleeping like a rock; she didn't think she had ever slept so soundly–even as a baby. She groaned as she was torn from her slumber by the sound of a throat clearing angrily.

She slowly cracked open her eyes and saw her father glaring down at her with his arms crossed over his chest, using the face he used on perps and criminals–or her whenever she missed curfew. Though, her brain was foggy from sleep, Veronica still didn't think she had done anything wrong to warrant that look.

"Dad?" she asked, her voice slightly croaky. "What's wr–" Her words cut off as she tried to sit up and found herself anchored down by the arm draped over her waist. Her eyes went wide with horror and she looked down at the arm. The hairy arm. A male arm. Logan Echolls arm.

She gulped.

Oh crap.

"This isn't what it looks like!" she insisted looking back up at Keith.

The sheriffs eyebrows rose. "Oh really? Well, am I glad to hear that, because it looks like there's a boy in bed with my teenage daughter–and I sure as hell don't want that to be what this is, Veronica."

"Nothing happened," Veronica rushed. "We just slept together." She cringed at her choice of words. "I mean _slept_, slept," she clarified. "You know with snoring and drool, REM cycle kind of stuff."

Unsurprisingly her father did not look appeased by this news.

"And what was wrong with Logan's bed that he couldn't sleep in it–without you?" he wanted to know.

Veronica licked her lips, nervously. "Um..."

A groan emanated from Logan's sleeping form.

"Ronnie?" he said groggily.

Veronica squeezed her eyes shut, grimacing at the familiar moniker; normally it wouldn't be a problem, but given their current comfy situation, she thought that the more formal Veronica might go over better–she opened her eyes to see her dad's face turning an alarming shade of purple–or not.

Logan rubbed his face into the pillow then raised his head. The look of turmoil on Veronica's face was what he noticed first.

"What's wrong?"

Veronica tilted her head slightly towards her dad.

Logan followed her line of sight and saw the reason for Veronica's agitation and understood it completely. Then, being himself, he let out a chuckle to ease the tension and said, "Morning, Sheriff."

Veronica whimpered and covered her face with her hands. She wished a blackhole would open up and swallow her–or better yet, swallow Logan. She turned to glare at him.

He just raised his shoulder with a puppy-dog innocent look.

"Honey?" Keith's tense voice broke in.

Veronica looked at him. "Hm?"

"Could I see you out in the hall for a minute?"

"Sure thing," she replied with and overly bright smile.

With one last withering look at Logan, Keith turned and stomped out of the bedroom.

Veronica's head whipped back toward Logan and smacked him on the arm–the injuries his father inflicted last night be damned.

"Morning, Sheriff?" she hissed. "What is wrong with you?"

"Well, I thought Keith was a bit too casual," he replied.

Veronica closed her eyes and shook her head. "Why did I ever open my window?" she asked out loud, not sure if she meant last night, or the first time he came knocking. Her life would be so much simpler right now if she'd ignored him.

She took a deep breath and climbed out of the bed to go and meet her father–and her fate.

"Nothing happened, I swear," she immediately told him again as soon as she shut the door behind her.

"By the state of Logan's face, I'd say that something happened last night," Keith retorted. "Tell me this, Veronica, when I go into the station this morning am I going to have a warrant for Logan's arrest waiting for me?"

"No," Veronica assured; she doubted Aaron Echolls would be stupid enough to press charges against Logan for assault, considering he might face an even heftier charge of statuary rape if it got out about his relationships–if you could call it that–with Lily Kane.

Veronica's stomach twisted as she fought with whether or not she should tell her dad about that particular bit of information; she decided now wasn't really the time.

Keith Mars rubbed his hand over his forehead and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You know it's bad enough for a father to walk in his daughter's room and find her in bed with a boy, but seeing that that boy has obviously been in a pretty serious fight–just what did he get himself mixed up in Veronica?"

"Nothing," Veronica averred. "The fight wasn't Logan's fault."

Her dad crossed his arms over his chest. "So you do know what it's about then?"

Veronica winced. She nodded. "I do. But I can't tell you. At least, not right now. It's not my place."

Keith did not look happy with that answer.

"Does it happen to have anything to do with the party at his house you had me break up the other night?"

She nodded. "Kind of."

"But, you can't–or won't–tell me how?"

"Can't," Veronica said. "And no."

Keith let out a breath. "Fine. Well I sure hope you enjoyed you're night off of being grounded, because you're not going to see another for a long time. I'm just glad you're mother stayed over at Carol's so she didn't see this."

Veronica looked down at her hands. She couldn't look up at her father; she hated to see him disappointed in her.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I know it wasn't right for me to let Logan stay here, but he didn't have anywhere else to go. He needed me."

"Didn't have anywhere else to go?" Keith repeated incredulous. "What about one of the copious rooms in that mansion he lives in–not to mention guest and pool houses. What was wrong with them?"

Veronica bit her lip. "He just couldn't go home, okay?" Veronica shifted nervously from one foot to the other. After a beat of silence, she chanced to glance up at her dad's face. She could see the understanding dawning in his eyes. Her stomach twisted with guilt feeling like she had betrayed Logan's secret, even if she hadn't said anything.

Keith's eyes closed with sorrow. "Oh god," he muttered in resignation. "He got the bruises from Aaron, didn't he?"

It was a rhetorical question really; he already knew the answer. Veronica didn't need to say anything, so she didn't. But her silence and the look on her face was all the confirmation the sheriff needed.

Of all the horrible things he'd seen in his time in law enforcement, nothing turned his stomach more than to see parents inflicting violence on their children.

"Jesus," he cursed again, shaking his head. He'd seen this sort of thing too many times, he should have noticed the signs; he felt like he failed Logan in some way never seeing it before. And he felt sick thinking of the amount of times he had gone to parties and barbeques over at the Echolls mansion and spent time with a man who could do something like that to his own son.

"How long has this been going on?" he asked Veronica.

She shrugged. As far as she knew this was the first time, but there was something in the way Logan acted so casual about it all that made her think it couldn't possibly be an isolated incident.

"I want to talk to him," Keith said.

"I don't that's a good– "

A glare from her dad cut Veronica's objection off short.

"Okay," she murmured.

Keith moved passed her and put his hand on the door.

"Veronica,"

"Hmm?"

"This doesn't mean that you're off the hook," he told her. "You should have come to me last night when he showed up."

Veronica nodded.

Keith sighed. "Aside from that though, I'm proud of you for trying to help your friend. But, do you think maybe you could have helped by giving him a pillow and letting sleep on the floor?"

"I'll keep that in mind for the next time," she quipped. Her dad gave her an amused look. "Just kidding. No more boys in my room until I'm thirty, promise."

"Forty," Keith countered.

"Thirty-five."

"We'll negotiate later," Keith grumbled, then twisted the doorknob. He paused before pushing the door open. "And I'm nailing your window shut."

**Sorry, I know it was short and light on the LoVe interaction, but it's mostly a transitory chapter. Well, you know the drill, please leave me a review and let me know what you thought**!


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi everyone! Thank so much for all the reviews last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one as well.**

**Please R&R!**

**Oh, and I just want to give a quick congrats! to all of the winners at the VM awards.**

Logan was just hastily doing up the lace of his left shoe when the door to Veronica's bedroom opened and her dad stepped inside. The sheriff's expression was blank and impassive, which scared Logan more than the red rage he'd been wearing earlier; it was his cop face. Logan left his lace halfway done and dropped his foot to the floor. He nodded at the man.

"Sheriff Mars," he greeted, his tone devoid of the wryness it had earlier.

"Logan," Keith replied coolly. "Can we talk?"

Logan raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't I call my lawyer first?" Keith smirked at the joke, but the gesture wasn't entirely warm. "Or maybe a priest?" Logan chuckled.

"There's no need for representation of any kind son," Keith assured, crossing the room and pulling out Veronica's desk chair. He dragged it over so he could set down opposite Logan–who was sitting tensely on the edge of Veronica's bed; he suddenly wished he had had time to take some other position.

"I want to talk about your face," Sheriff Mars said after sitting down.

"Well," Logan ventured, "I've been told I look like James Dean, but personally I think I more favour a young Marlon Brando."

Keith huffed. "Well, you certainly do have an '_On the waterfront'_ look going on right now," he quipped.

Logan smirked. "I coulda been a contender," he muttered.

Keith smiled faintly and after a quiet beat passed, he turned to a more solemn tone. "So how long has your father been abusing you Logan?" Logan looked up at him sharply, then his eyes flicked to the door. "Veronica didn't tell me anything," Keith informed. "Believe it or not, I'm smarter than I look, and figuring things out by looking at the clues is sort of my job–I worked it out on my own. Something I should have done a lot sooner than now."

Logan didn't say anything at first, just clenched his jaw and pressed his lips tightly together. He looked down at his hands–his knuckles bruised and split open from making contact with his father's chiseled–as the magazines liked to coin it–jaw. "Yeah, well it wasn't like it was a one-way fight, so..." He let his words drift off with a shrug.

"Not this time anyway, huh?" replied Keith. The sheriff sighed into the silence he was greeted with. "Unfortunately I don't think I'm exactly going out on a limb here in thinking this isn't an isolated incident, as these types of things rarely are. Why didn't you ever come to me with what was going on Logan, I could have helped you."

Logan chuckled bitterly. "How?"

"Well, I think I've mentioned my position in law enforcement," he began. "I'd have arrested the son of a bitch."

"Yeah, and then what?" Logan retorted. "He'd have been out on bail an hour later and even more pissed than he was before. Come on, sheriff, do you know who his lawyers are–they're the same guys that got OJ off. Do you really think that the rinky-dink local yocal, Neptune county prosecutor could stand a chance against sharks like them?"

"Maybe not," The sheriff ceded, he was a realistic man and was well aware of the fact, that the law he believed in so much was, unfortunately, flawed. "But, he sure as hell could have tried. I would have tried. I would have done everything in my power to protect you, Logan. I have been on your side–and I still will. I've known you since you were twelve years old, Logan, and even though you've always been a little smart ass punk, I've liked you anyway."

Logan couldn't help but smile; he had always admired sheriff Mars–though he wasn't likely to admit such things–the idea that he, in whatever way, had the man's approval meant a lot to him. "Really?" he asked.

Keith nodded. "Though not nearly enough to allow you to bunk down with my daughter," he added sternly.

"Nothing happened," Logan averred. "I swear."

"I know," Keith replied. "She told me. And I trust my daughter–despite how much she has been doing to test that trust lately. Right, so I'm gonna take the morning to figure out what to do about your situation–find you somewhere else to stay."

"You don't have to that."

"Yeah, I do. Although, I may like you, that doesn't mean I trust you under the same roof of my beautiful teenage daughter."

"No, I meant, I should be fine to go home now," Logan elaborated. "Daddy dearest, should have cooled off by now."

"Well, that may be so, Logan, but there is just no way in hell I'm sending a kid back into a house with a father who hits him if I can help it–we'll work something out, all right?"

Logan nodded.

"Right, first things first," Keith said rising to his feet, Logan followed his lead and got up too. "I was just about to make breakfast–how do you feel about bacon?"

"Almost the same way I feel about Hiedi Klum in a bikini," Logan said.

Keith rolled his eyes. "I'll take that to mean you like it. Oh. And one more thing Logan," he added. "If I ever catch you my daughter's bed again, you really will look like James Dean–after the car accident."

XXX

Veronica sat anxiously at the kitchen table as she waited for her father and Logan to emerge from her bedroom. She craned her head to look down the hall to the door of her room. She was chewing on her bottom lip and her foot was bobbing frenetically. She wanted to know what was going on in there. She could only imagine and the things she was imagining were not good.

She couldn't hear anything; no loud crashes at least, so she supposed that was a good thing–not screaming and yelling either. It was perfectly quiet. Too quiet.

Veronica's eyes widened as she pictured what could be going on that would account for the lack of noise; the vision of her father strangling Logan or suffocating him with a pillow popped into her head–those were relatively silent activities.

Crap.

She really shouldn't have let Logan sleep over in her bed with her; normally she wouldn't have risked the wrath of her father and done such a thing. But the look in Logan's eyes last night–the vulnerability and sorrow–it just broke her heart. All she wanted to do was make him feel better, to offer him whatever small comfort she could give.

And now the price of that moment of solace was Logan being killed by the town sheriff.

Panic overtaking her, Veronica shot up to her feet ready to charge into her room and... well, do something. She just reached the mouth of the hall when her door opened and her father walked out, followed by an unharmed–well no more harmed than he was before at least–Logan.

"Hey," Veronica said surprised looking from one face to the other.

"Hey, honey," her father replied, a bit too cheerily. "I'm gonna make some breakfast–how many slices of bacon do you want?"

"Uh..." Was all Veronica could manage to say; she was too confused by her dad's demeanour. She couldn't believe he was talking about breakfast after having found her in bed with a boy–which was bad enough, but the fact that, as far as Keith knew, a boy that was dating her best friend.

Keith sighed. "I'll just make extra," he said and continued on to the kitchen.

Veronica stared after him, stunned, for a moment, before blinking and turning a questioning look to Logan. "Um... what the heck happened in there?" she asked. "Did the aliens invade and body snatch my father 'cause no way was that a normal Keith Mars reaction."

Logan chuckled and shrugged. "You're dad's a cool guy," he told.

"Well, I know that. He's the best–but not usually so cool as to not get upset about a boy sleeping in my bed with me."

"Well... if it makes you feel any better, he did threaten me if he ever found me in your bed again," Logan offered.

Veronica sighed. "Oh, well that's a relief. At least now I know he hasn't had a complete lobotomy."

Logan smirked.

A beat of silence ticked by.

"So how are you?" Veronica asked solemnly.

"Honestly? I'm pretty all right–well not all right, but better than I would have thought I'd be under the circumstances," Logan answered. "It really meant a lot to me that you let me in last night–especially given the amount of trouble you could have gotten into. Thanks."

Veronica smiled. "Don't mention it. It only cost me my freedom until menopause."

Logan chuckled and tentatively put his hand on Veronica's shoulder. "Well, let me know when that happens will you?"

Veronica looked at him sideways. "Uh… why?"

"Well, because once you're free to go out again, I'd… like to maybe take on a date or something."

A tingling sensation spread through Veronica's body, beginning at the spot where Logan's hand rested on her shoulder. She found herself taking a step closer to him and craning her head upward. "You'll be the first one I call," she said, her voice slightly strained from her suddenly dry throat.

Logan's hand slid up to cup her neck, his thumb stroking her jaw, as he leaned down toward her. His face came so close to Veronica's that their breath mingled. Veronica's lips were already tingling with anticipation of meeting Logan's, but before they could touch Veronica was struck by a sudden thought.

"Wait," she blurted out, pressing her lips together. Logan stopped short, pulling back slightly, and gave her a questioning look. Veronica sighed. "So far, my dad has been beyond understanding about all of this, but, if he catches us making out in hall, I think we can kiss any goodwill goodbye."

"I guess you have a point," Logan conceded, and, with a wistful sigh, straightened himself. "So…" he ventured. "When do women normally begin menopause?"

Veronica laughed. "Come on," she tugged on Logan's shirt, "if my nose doesn't deceive me, I'd say the bacon's ready."

_TBC..._

_**Well, thanks for reading! You know what to do now; REVIEW!**_


	14. Chapter 14

1_**Okay first off, Thanks so much to everyone that read, reviewed, alerted and favourite'd, the last chapter. Just to name a few:****Guest,****silverlining2k6, Maggi Esk, lateVMlover, Asranti, Kathy0518, Natski, Lori2279, Spygrrl, Guest, Angel, Nikki, bestal, RedJane12, Marina Segolate, and JeniLyn2000. You guys have no idea what your support for this fic means to me :-) **_

_**And, second, I know, I suck for taking so long to update. It may not seem like it, but, I really do try to make them as quickly as I can.**_

_**Anyway, sorry this is a little short, but I hope that you guys enjoy it.**_

_**Please R&R!**_

Veronica held her breath as she passed the entrance into Neptune high; the last few weeks, ever since the 'incident' with Logan happened, Veronica had dreaded walking down the halls of school. She'd never used to have this problem. When you're are dating the most popular guy in school, best friends with the girl every other girl wants to be–and every guy wants to nail–,and are a member the Pep Squad, the halls of any high school anywhere belong to you. That had been the case for Veronica only days ago, but now...

Well, at least she was still on the Pep Squad.

_Though, I have missed quite a few practices lately, so maybe I don't even have that anymore._ She had been skipping practice in an attempt to avoid Lilly; it only just now occurred to her that she might have blown off one to many, risking her spot. Her stomach twinged at the thought of losing the last vestiges of her life as she had known it. Not that being on Pep Squad had been the centre of her universe the way it was for some of the other girls, but she had fun.

But, the reason it had been so fun was mostly do to Lilly; it had been her idea for them to join together in the first place. Veronica didn't know if she would really like it all that much without sharing it with her BFF. Her gut twisted again, this time almost violently.

It had been hard enough facing Lilly after Veronica had kissed Logan, and then after finding out that Lilly had been cheating with Weevil. Now that she knew about Aaron...Veronica wasn't sure that she would be able to look at Lilly without seeing the image of her writhing on top of Logan's dad. Remembering the sight now, Veronica had to put a hand on her belly, thinking for sure she was going to lose it.

"Hey," a calming voice said from beside her and she felt a warm, comforting hand rest on her shoulder. She looked over and saw Logan looking at her, his pretty brown eyes full of sympathy–she had almost forgotten he was next to her, but looking at his face now, she almost immediately felt the churning inside her begin to settle. Logan's lips twitched up in a small smile. "It's gonna be okay, Veronica," he said reassuringly.

Veronica's lips twisted wryly, and she was hit by a wave of guilt at Logan's comforting words; her she was lamenting about how hard everything was for her and how much her life had been shaken, when for Logan it must be a million times worse; after all it was _his_ father and _his_ girlfriend on that tape. The bruises on his face a sobering reminder of that.

Without thinking, Veronica found her hand reaching out, her fingertips ever so lightly tracing Logan's black-eye.

"I think I'm supposed to be the one telling you that," she joked.

Logan smiled and put his hand over Veronica's. "So tell me then."

Veronica turned her hand, pressing her palm to Logan's and laced her fingers with his. "It's gonna be okay," she said.

The pair stood there for a moment, frozen in each other's gaze, and then the warning bell sounded, wrenching Veronica out of the trance and reminding her where she was; in the middle of the school hallway with hundreds of prying eyes and loose mouths all around her. She quickly yanked her hand away from Logan's and shoved it guiltily into her pocket.

Logan stood there for a moment, dazed, looking down at his open palm and wondering what had just happened. Then understanding hit him and he balled his into a fist and snickered bitterly. He thought that last night had brought on a real shift in his and Veronica's relationship–apparently, he was wrong.

"Right," he muttered. "Well, I guess I'd better skedaddle. We wouldn't want anyone to see us lingering in each other's company for too long."

Veronica felt her chest wrench as Logan started to walk away. "Logan, wait!" she blurted out. Logan stopped, but didn't turn around. Veronica could see how angry he was by the tension in his shoulders. She waited, not saying a word, until he finally, slowly, wheeled around to look at her.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean it like that. Things are just still so confusing right now and I just..." she shook her head, not really knowing the words to explain her actions. "I'm just sorry, that's all," she finished lamely.

Logan flashed his usual cocky-jackass grin and shrugged. "Hey, no problem, Mars. See ya around." With that he turned from her again and stalked away.

Veronica lurched forward, opening her mouth to call out to him again, but the words didn't quite make it past her lips. She clenched her eyes shut and sighed. "Damn it," she muttered under her breath. She didn't know why exactly she had pulled away from him like that, it had just been automatic. Veronica hated being the centre of attention and she knew if the wrong person had witnessed her and Logan in the intimate position they had been in, the gossip mills would definitely start turning. She didn't want the whole school commentating on the nature of her relationship with Logan–especially when she still wasn't sure what it was herself. And what if it got back to Duncan and Lilly?

On some level, Veronica knew that she didn't really owe anything to Duncan, or even Lilly, after the unforgivable behaviour the Kane's had exhibited lately–and neither did Logan. But on a deeper level, Veronica was having trouble ignoring years worth of friendship and loyalty; her connection to Lilly was an almost indelible mark on her genetic make-up or something. That friendship was in her bones. Lilly had been more to a friend to her, closer than a sister: she had been like a soul mate. And even after all of the things she had learned about Lilly, things that had Veronica questioning just how well she knew her best friend after all–if she even did know the real Lilly at all–the idea of losing that relationship with her was unbearable. It cut her to the quick; to lose Lilly almost felt like losing a limb, a part of herself she could never get back or replace.

She didn't know if she could survive the loss. No matter what she might stand to gain with Logan.

_TBC..._

**As always, thanks so much for reading, reviews are awesome, so please let me know what you thought.**


	15. Chapter 15

_**Thanks so much to everyone that reviewed the last chapter: Kathy0158, Nichole, Angel, JeniLyn2000, Maggi Esk, Astranti, lateVMlover, bestal, silverlining2k6, RedJane12, Nikki, and Natski.**_

_**You guys are all awesome sauce and it is your support that keeps me going.**_

_**I hope you enjoy the update. **_

_**Please R&R!  
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><p>Logan was grinding his teeth together as he stormed down the hall and away from Veronica. A battle was waging inside him; he was mad at Veronica for pulling away and he was mad at himself for letting his choleric nature get the better of him. Logically, Logan knew that Veronica's confusion was warranted–he was confused himself. But emotionally he had thought that they had made some kind of connection last night, that their relationship had shifted. At least that was how it had felt to Logan when he had fallen asleep curled around Veronica.<p>

The memory of how Veronica's small frame had felt wrapped up in his arms floated up, followed by the image of her father's face when he had found them in bed together this morning; Veronica had taken a risk for him letting him stay with her, because she cared. And how does he repay her, by getting pissed and storming off without giving her a real chance to explain. If he wasn't careful he might destroy what he had with Veronica before it even really started.

"Jackass!" he cursed himself, sending his fist into the nearest locker. Pain shot up his arm as the cuts he'd incurred from hitting his father the night before reopened. "Ahh," he hissed, shaking his hand out.

"Hey, man, what'd the locker ever do to you?" asked a voice from behind him. Logan spun around to see Duncan looking at him, a smirk of amusement touching his lips–that is until he noticed the bruise on Logan's face. "Uh... it didn't happen to give you that shiner did it? Cause if that's the case, go ahead, kick its ass. Need help?" He chuckled, a bit awkwardly. He had a very good inkling of where Logan had gotten his black eye from. He'd known about his father's abuse since they were 12. Whenever his dad would go off on him, Logan would usually come to Duncan's house and spend the night on the floor–Duncan always left his bedroom window unlocked just in case. Duncan's brow knitted wondering why he hadn't come over last night.

"Uh... everything okay, man?" Duncan asked him.

Logan smiled tightly as he shoved his throbbing hand into his pocket. "Peachy. And yourself?" He turned back around and continued his walk down the hall.

"Um, I'm cool," Duncan replied as he trailed after Logan. They stopped at Logan's locker and Duncan waited as Logan expertly spun the dial of his combination, considering whether or not to bring up the subject most on his mind right now, considering whatever it was going on with Logan and his dad. But in the end he found it was eating at him too much to just let go.

"So, I tried to get a hold of you a bunch of times this weekend, man," he ventured casually. "Where were at?"

"Lost my cell," Logan replied.

Duncan nodded in understanding. "Oh. Well I just wanted to know what the hell went down at the party. I mean it was pretty weird right, how Veronica's dad busted the place up like that, and right after I saw the two of you going off alone together."

Logan's body stiffened, his grip on the door of his locker tightening with white-knuckle intensity. He slammed the locker shut and slowly turned around to face Duncan.

"And just what the hell are you trying to get at, man?" he asked Duncan. "What you think something happened with me and Veronica that made her call her dad–that _I _did something to her?"

Duncan put up his hands. "Whoa, hey Dude, I didn't say that."

"No, but you sure were beating pretty loudly around that bush," Logan retorted.

Logan's jaw tensed, along with the rest of his body. Now he really understood more of why Veronica had pulled away from him; of course she wouldn't want someone seeing them in a conspicuous situation and having it get back to Duncan or Lily before they could explain themselves. Logan wouldn't want that either. His friendship with Duncan was too important. Logan owed it to Duncan to be the one to tell him himself–as soon as he knew what it was he had to tell him; as soon as he and Veronica worked out what it was going on between them. Which, right now, was still up in the air.

Logan cleared his throat and shrugged. "Sheriff Mars said he got a noise complaint," Logan said to Duncan.

"Hey, no, come on, man. I wasn't trying to say anything like that. The thought never even crossed my mind," Duncan insisted. "It's just, you know, kinda weird how you two are hanging out so much lately. First at the party and then Casey says he saw her getting out of your car this morning. I mean, I can't remember the two of you so much as having lunch by yourself before. What's going on?"

Logan chuckled acerbically. "Oh, now I get it," he said. "You know, Duncan, I think you gave up your right to play the jealous boyfriend crap when you dumped Veronica like a sack of garbage. Where the hell do you get off keeping tabs on her?"

"I never said I was jealous, just confused," Duncan shot back. "Why, is there a reason I should be jealous? Is something going on with you and Veronica?"

_Something_, Logan thought. _I just wish I knew what the hell it was._

"Let's just that me and Ronnie have bonded lately over shared experiences," he told Duncan. "We've recently discovered we have a lot more in common than we ever knew."

Duncan let out a scoff. "Oh, yeah, like what?"

"Oh... I don't know," Logan said casually as leaned back against the locker bank crossing his ankles one over the other and his arms over his chest, "well for starters we both know how it feels to be screwed over by a Kane."

Duncan's jaw clenched, his mouth pressing into a firm line. "All right," he said, "I admit that I didn't exactly handle ending things with Veronica in the best way, that's fair enough, but you're the one that broke up with my sister so how the hell did _she_ screw _you_ over?"

"Well by screwing every other guy in sight when she was supposed to be my girlfriend, that's how," Logan hotly replied.

Anger flashed in Duncan's usually placid blue eyes. He took a menacing step toward Logan. "Hey you better watch your mouth, Echolls," he warned.

Not intimidated one bit, Logan further breached the narrowing gap between him and his best friend. "Or you'll what?" he challenged.

"You really don't want to find out," Duncan said.

Logan's fingers flexed in and out of fist, his blood was still simmering from the brawl with his father; he was still raring to go for another fight, he just needed an excuse. And here Duncan was goading him; it was like dangling meat in front of a hungry Rottweiler. The corners of his mouth curved up in a wry smirk.

"Oh, actually I do," Logan said. "In fact, I'm dying to find out. So...?"

A small crowd began to gather as Logan and Duncan stood locked in an intense staring contest. Their was a hush in the corridor as the onlookers waited for one of the clenched-fisted, testosterone fuelled teenagers to take the first swing; if bets were being placed the odds would have been on the notoriously hot-tempered Logan against the usually mild mannered Duncan. But the way the latter was looking at his opponent, it wouldn't be too big of a surprise to see an upset. Unfortunately for the bloodthirsty crowd, they would never get to find out, because before either boy could make a move the last call bell pealed, cutting through the tension that had built up between the best friend's.

Logan smirked, backing off first with an affected sigh. "Ah... saved by the bell," he quipped. "Now how often do people actually get to use that expression? Well..." He looked at Duncan, giving him a curt nod and mock salute and took off down the hall, passing by the onlookers as they grumbled disappointments.

After a few seconds, the crowd cleared off, leaving a very confused Duncan standing there all alone.

**LVLV**

Veronica was sitting alone at one of the work stations in the chemistry lab–she used to sit with Duncan this period... but that wasn't really an option anymore, was it? She was chewing contemplatively on the eraser end of a pencil, thinking about what had happened in the hall with her and Logan. It made her chest hurt remembering the hurt look that flashed in his eyes when she had pulled away from him. And was it any wonder? After what had happened the last few days, finding out about Lily and his father, of course being rejected by someone else you cared about would cut to the quick.

_But, I wasn't rejecting him_, Veronica averred to herself._ It wasn't like that. _She had to make Logan see that. That is if he wasn't too mad at her and let her explain it to him. He had to listen, she needed to make things all right between them again.

Veronica was brought out of her thoughts when a group of her gossiping classmates passed by her desk and she heard one of them say, "And Logan Echolls, right out in the hallway. I swear to god!"

Momentary panic struck Veronica as she wondered if the person before that 'and' had been herself. Surely they weren't talking about the almost PDA with her and Logan. But, at Neptune high, you never knew. Even the most innocent of things could get blown out of proportion. Veronica bit her lips and leaned back, straining to hear more of the conversation.

"Hey, is this seat taken?" The question pulled Veronica's attention away from the gossips and she whipped her head around to see a pair of apologetic and hopeful brown eyes looking down at her. The contrite expression on Logan's face made Veronica's heart soar with relief and her throat tightened, happy tears springing up into her eyes. She blinked them away and cleared her throat.

She smiled up at Logan and said, "It is now." She moved her book-bag out of the seat beside her so he could sit down.

The pair held each others gaze as Logan sat down. The smiled at each other a tacitly telling the other that everything was all right.

"Mr. Kane, your late," Mr. Turner chided loudly, popping the little bubble that had formed around Logan and Veronica.

"Hey, sorry, alarm clock didn't go off," he mumbled.

Veronica's brow furrowed, she could have swore she saw Duncan's car in the lot this morning.

Duncan shuffled toward his seat giving Logan such a cold look when he passed by that it made Veronica shiver.

Well, perhaps things weren't quite as all right as they seemed after all.

_TBC...  
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><p><em><strong>Thanks for reading! Now please leave a review and let me know what you thought!<strong>_


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